


Lightning In A Bottle

by unmistakablyunknown



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Attempted Murder, Bisexual Spencer Reid, Canon-Typical Violence, Consensual Sex, F/M, Family Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Kidnapping, Murder, Original Character(s), Protective BAU Team (Criminal Minds), Psychologists & Psychiatrists, Spencer Reid Needs a Hug, Strained Relationships, The BAU Team as Family (Criminal Minds)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:43:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29968647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unmistakablyunknown/pseuds/unmistakablyunknown
Summary: Doctor Theodora "Teddy" Wilson is a Child Psychologist and Behavioral Specialist and often works in collaboration with the FBI in Washington DC. However when she's transferred over to Quantico, Virginia to assist the Behavioural Analysis Unit, she suddenly has to acclimate to an entirely different workplace dynamic as she helps the team out in any way she can with her expertise.It's all fun and games until Teddy realises that she's closer to Doctor Reid than she first realises. Though there's no competition or bad blood between the two of them, the job and their professional reputations make it difficult to even consider catching feelings. But, much like everything else in life, the universe finds a way to push them together all the same. Secrets are revealed, boundaries set and tested, they have to find a way of working through it all to be together.
Relationships: Derek Morgan & Original Female Character(s), Emily Prentiss & Original Female Character(s), Penelope Garcia & Original Female Character(s), Penelope Garcia/Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid & Original Female Character(s), Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. D-I-V-O-R-C-E

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: mild language, mentions of divorce, multiple murders, psychological profiling, discussion of sexual violence/necrophilia

_**It’s not length of life, but depth of life - Ralph Waldo Emerson** _

The doors to the FBI’s Quantico Headquarters opened with a smooth hiss, and almost immediately Doctor Theodora Wilson’s attention was divided across everything going on. She had to remind herself that this was only a temporary transfer, that she was _on loan_ from DC to help out the Behavioural Analysis Unit. She noted that the air was chilly compared to the somewhat humid atmosphere she had been used to in DC. As she pushed her sunglasses up to rest on the top of her head, she approached the main desk.

“Can I help you?” the woman with a sleek chestnut bob questioned from behind the monitor.

“I sure hope so; I’m meeting with Agent Hotchner? I’m the transfer on loan from DC,” the blonde explained with a polite smile before shouldering her satchel.

“Of course, I’ll call him down for you. Name please?”

“Oh, certainly - Doctor Theodora Wilson.” Teddy watched as the woman picked up the phone and dialled the necessary extension. Despite being accustomed to meeting with important higher-ups, Teddy was still anxious to get this induction over and done. Soon after the receptionist hung up the phone, a man dressed in a sharp black suit appeared, an official ID badge clipped to his lapel.

“Doctor Wilson?” She kicked herself for nodding so timidly and offered her hand for him to shake.

“Agent Hotchner, I presume?”

“Follow me, please.” Teddy tried her hardest to keep in-step with the taller man as they stepped into the elevator, and he pressed the necessary buttons.

“So, I’ll give you a tour of the Bullpen - that’s what we call our official office space. Once I’ve introduced you to the rest of the BAU we can go through with setting up your desktop login and workspace,” he explained as they moved swiftly down the stretch of bustling corridors. Compared to her home office in DC, this was far busier, akin to a beehive. The Jeffersonian was relatively calm across all floors, and she had remained reasonably undisturbed.

“Alright, sounds like a plan, Agent Hotchner,” she agreed as she tightened her ponytail.

“Doctor Wilson, you can call me Hotch. Everyone else seems to.” The sarcasm didn’t go unnoticed by Teddy, and she bit back a laugh as they reached a communal office area.

“Team, eyes up!” he projected when they entered what Teddy assumed to be the Bullpen. Her skin broke out in goosebumps, and she figured they must be superhuman to have the AC as low as it felt. Everyone that sat at their desks turned to face the two of them as they stood in the doorway.

“This is Doctor Theodora Wilson, a child psychologist and behavioural specialist from the Jeffersonian in DC. She’s going to be helping on future cases, providing an insight into unsub’s childhoods and any potential childhood trauma we might miss,” Hotch explained and little by little, the group closed in. One by one, they stuck their hands out and greeted her with smiles. It was easy for Teddy to decipher, who was who.

“Theodora’s my full name, but please, feel free to call me Teddy,” she informed the group with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Derek Morgan, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Fancied himself, the ladies man.

“Penny Garcia. S’ about time we got another lady on the team.” The bubbly blonde techie.

“JJ, Communications Liaison.” Press-wrangler.

“Greetings, Doctor. David Rossi.” Second or first in command, she couldn’t decide.

“Prentiss, Emily. Nice to meet you, Doctor.” The last to greet her was a somewhat skinny guy, no more than a few years younger than her. His appearance seemed well-kept, and there was a nervous air around him.

“Doctor Reid, I’d prefer not to shake hands.” Teddy held her hands up in earnest, respecting his boundaries straight off the bat, in hopes of making a good impression.

“Alright, I can work with that. I don't want to tread on anyone’s toes. I’m just here to help you guys out as best as I can,” Teddy declared with her brightest smile. She had to make a good impression, and she had to make sure they knew where she stood.

“Okay, I’m going to finish showing Doctor Wilson around, the rest of you have work to finish.” There was a collective groan as the group dispersed, returning to their various desks to pick up where they left off before Teddy arrived.

Teddy spent the following hour getting used to the user interface on the desktop computer and learning the ins and outs of the Bullpen; when they broke for lunch, policy on staying late and arriving early and the best time to get paperwork filed. It was enlightening, and Teddy was eager to get started, but it was still a lot to get her head around in the meantime. She was acutely aware that a couple of the team would stop and watch her any time she got up to go somewhere, yet she didn’t feel any discomfort. Teddy knew it was just playground curiosity, and they meant nothing by it.

Lunch finally rolled around, and it was made clear that food wasn’t eaten in the Bullpen, not at lunchtime at least. Awkwardly, Teddy tagged along behind the team as they made their way down to the staff refectory. While they headed down the corridors, Teddy fell in-step with Garcia and was relieved when she broke the ice, saving Teddy from the task herself.

“So, fill me in, give me the skinny, what’s the sitch in DC?” the blonde questioned as they kept a steady pace to keep up with the others.

“Oh, uh… Well, I worked out of a singular office. I rarely did the whole ‘work in a team’ spiel because I’m primarily a referral from other forensic and healthcare professionals,” the mousy blonde explained as they slowed to a stop in front of the elevators.

“A solo flyer, sweet. You have a specialism, right? I mean, child psych and behaviour is a specialism of its own accord, but is there anything within that you’re _especially_ good at?” Teddy laughed nervously and shouldered her satchel before facing the bombshell blonde to reply.

“Art therapy. Most of the kids that come through my door are scared half to death and can’t find the words to tell me what’s wrong. So, I hand them a sketchpad and some markers, or paint or crayons and let them draw what they’re feeling and create pictures that help me gain an insight into what they’re going through.”

“That’s so awesome!” she exclaimed as they entered the refectory and everyone took their seats.

“So, Doctor Wilson,” Morgan began, spearing a forkful of salad, “Are you from DC?” She took a sip of the tea she’d brought with her in a travel flask before shaking her head.

“No, I’m not. I grew up in Boston until I was fourteen. I was offered an early bird scholarship to start studying in child psyche and got a full ride for my PhD, and six years later, I graduated _Summa_ , got a job in DC. Been there ever since,” she explained with a smile as she pulled a Tupperware container out of her bag. It opened with a sharp _pop_ and Teddy didn’t hesitate in eating her leftover pasta.

“No way, that’s almost like our Boy Wonder over here,” Morgan nudged Reid, and the uncomfortable Doctor cleared his throat before looking away.

“Oh?” Her interest was piqued as she set her food down for a moment. It was clear that he didn’t want to be the centre of the conversation, and Teddy immediately backtracked.

“If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. I was just surprised. It’s hard to come by shared experiences in this field of work.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” JJ mused with a growing smile as she sipped her coffee. Their break rolled on and right as they began their return journey to the Bullpen, Hotch appeared with Rossi, both men looking sombre.

“Round Table Room in five,” Hotch instructed, and a round of excited whispers passed through the group. Teddy leaned over to Reid as they gathered at the elevator.

“What does that mean?”

“Most likely, a new case has come in where our expertise is required.” Despite knowing nothing about him, Teddy was already curious and wanting to learn more. She had an odd affinity to people, and she was hard to dislike.

“Nothing like being thrown in at the deep end, hm?” she jested as they stepped inside the next elevator.

“I’m sure you’ll be alright. Everyone likes you already, so the chances of you causing any kind of friction or disruption to the team dynamic are fairly slim.” He shrugged, nonplussed as the lift ascended to the right floor. It was a little awkward, given that they’d been the last two to get into an empty elevator.

“Oh… Well, thank you. Doctor Reid.” Thankfully the awkward silence didn’t last long as the doors slid open, and Teddy followed Reid to what she assumed would be the _Round Table Room._ Upon reflection, she realised she’d never met anyone _quite_ like Doctor Spencer Reid and that lit an unexpected spark in her. Though before Teddy could act on her curiosity, he’d opened the door as Hotch got them all sat down and handed out manila files almost full to bursting with paperwork.

The briefing was surprisingly easy to follow, and Teddy didn’t trip over or stumble across any of the details. A string of brutal assaults and murders in Wyoming that increased in frequency as they became more recent. She kept up with the asides made by the others and took them all by surprise upon speaking up when they came up blank for one of Rossi’s probing questions.

“The victims all fit a similar profile; older, dark-haired women, possibly reflective of the Unsub’s mother. Partnered with the obvious over the top sexual violence against the victims’ post-mortem, I’d say the Unsub never had a close maternal figure to rely on and from an early age developed an unhealthy psychosexual mentality.” The table fell silent, and Teddy thought she’d stepped out of line or said the wrong thing.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, I was just - I was just thinking out loud,” she apologised before sitting back in her seat, thumbing through the file.

“No, no I think you’re spot on, Doctor. It’s still a little too early to say what’s going on, but I agree. We’re potentially looking at someone with hatred towards women - a vendetta they’ve been trying to exact,” Emily agreed with a subtle nod of approval in Teddy’s direction.

“Well, with that in mind, we’re likely to be looking for a male, with a rap sheet and criminal history, with a slew of unsuccessful relationships,” Reid chimed in, and they were all in agreement. Teddy found herself integrating more and more with every passing minute, which was a prospect that excited her and foretold of a successful future within the team.

The rest of the meeting rolled on, final thoughts on motives, opportunity, personality types and trying to decipher what category the Unsub belonged to, of which there were many possibilities to choose. Teddy was fascinated by the dynamic the team had created both as individuals and as a unit. Since arriving six short hours ago, Teddy had already decided that the transfer was worth it and a permanent integration might be on the cards.

“Alright, we’ll try and suss out more on the way over, wheels up in an hour.” Hotch dismissed them, and the group dispersed from the table, gathering their things and getting ready for the flight. Not sure what to bring with her, upon rushing back to her loft apartment twenty minutes away, Teddy packed a weekend bag with clean clothes, toiletries and the file she’d received. After that, she was back on her way to the headquarters, with just enough time to catch her breath before she followed the rest of the team to the airstrip.

“It was great to have your input, earlier,” Emily assured her as they boarded the jet and got comfortable. Teddy felt a flush of heat wash over her and made her a little more modest than usual.

“Thank you, Prentiss, that means so much.” The gratitude was genuine, and as they boarded the jet, she noticed the only spare seat that wasn’t a sofa was next to Reid. Teddy put her bag in the overhead storage and sat down, a book already in her grasp and ready to be read. To her left, Spencer was also reading, though the rate at which he was turning the pages surprised Teddy. She decided it wasn’t worth bothering him over, so she took her jacket off and settled into her seat and picked up where she left off.

Mid-flight, she’d given up on trying to read, her brain too scattered to focus. With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself into the plush seat in an attempt to get some semblance of sleep before they touched down.

“Your name, Theodora; it’s Greek in origin, means ‘Gift of God’. Were your parents religious?” Reid’s voice took her by surprise, and she turned to face him with a look of confusion.

“Not even a little bit, and they weren’t Greek, they were just unbelievably pretentious.” At that, they both laughed, and she noticed how he looked away, cheeks tinted slightly pink.

“Y’ know, generally speaking, people who aren’t fond of their birth names typically have been named after a relative or ancestor they’ve never met,” he stated plainly with a slight wave of his hand. However, he struggled to meet her eyes, his gaze flitting to anywhere but.

“Do you just _know_ these things?” Teddy turned in her seat a little more to face him better, and that endearing rosy flush reappeared on his cheeks.

“I, uh - I have what’s known as an Eidetic Memory and an IQ of one-eighty-seven. Information recall is nothing for me,” he admitted quietly, though Teddy couldn’t believe she was sitting next to quite possibly one of the smartest people she’d ever met.

“Well, look at you, that’s pretty damn impressive. You’re going to have to tell me more about that, Doctor Reid.” There was no malice in her voice, only a light, playful lilt that indicated she meant well.

“Some other time, perhaps,” the young doctor replied with a curt nod of his head.

“Sure thing.”

The rest of the flight felt a little easier as she drifted in and out of sleep. The noise of the wind from outside the jet was monotonous enough to help lull her back into blissful unconsciousness.

Upon landing, they were ushered out of the plane and into several black SUVs. Still worn down by sleep, Teddy struggled to keep her eyes open, hoping she could get a coffee or cup of tea soon to help keep her awake. The ride to the local police precinct was quiet but comfortable. She was seated between Morgan and JJ, and Spencer had taken the front passenger seat.

“What a way to start your first day, huh?” JJ mused as the car rolled to a stop, and they all climbed out.

“I don't mind it - beats having to sit around filing paperwork all day,” Teddy rebuffed with a smile as they regrouped inside the precinct.

“We’ll see how long that lasts.” The sarcasm in Derek’s voice was enough to make her smile. Hotch introduced the team to the Chief of police before they were walked through to where they’d be setting up. The board room was spacious enough to allow everyone a comfortable work bubble but didn’t push them far enough apart to stop them from talking and comparing notes. The way she liked it.

“Alright, Prentiss and Wilson, visit the families of the first two victims, Morgan and Reid start working on the geographical profile, JJ you’re on press, Rossi and I’ll take dumpsites,” Hotch instructed and they all partnered off. Emily and Teddy left the building in step with one another when they reached the SUV Emily offered to drive, to which Teddy didn’t argue.

“So, how do you want to do this?”

“Well, how would you normally interview the families?” Teddy responded, eyes still scanning the case files.

“I’ll deal with the spouse or any older kin, would you mind taking care of any kids?”

“I’ll see if I can get an idea of home life from the children,” she agreed before she tucked the files back into her satchel.

“You can do that?” Emily seemed both impressed and confused.

“Oh, yeah - it’s no different to how you would profile and adult, just downsized to correlate with smaller people. I’ll try and get a look at their rooms, ask them some harmless questions and get back to you with what I know.” As they pulled up, they had their plan in order and power-walked up to the front door.

“I don't need to tell you how to handle yourself in this situation, do I?” Emily checked as Teddy rang the doorbell. The younger woman shook her head with a chuckle.

“No, you’re all clear on that front.” The door opened and the two agents came face to face with a young boy. Immediately, Teddy knelt and cleared her throat.

“Hi there, my name is Doctor Teddy, this is my friend Emily. What’s your name?”

“Holden,” he replied quietly and Teddy smiled.

“Wow, that’s a nice name. Holden, is your dad in the house?” The small brunette picked at his sleeve for a moment before nodding.

“He is?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, great! Listen, Emily needs to talk to him real quick, do you think you could go get him for us?” With a timid nod, the boy disappeared into the house and left Teddy and Emily on the porch. A few moments passed before a grumbling middle-aged man appeared, Holden in tow.

“Can I help you?”

“Mister Lowry? I’m Emily Prentiss, this is Doctor Theodora Wilson, we’re with the FBI,” the raven-haired agent explained with a level voice as they flashed their badges in unison.

“This is about Martha, isn’t it?”

“Can we come in to talk about it?” Teddy questioned as she locked eyes with Holden, who was half-hidden behind his father’s leg.

“Sure.” He stepped aside and let them in. Teddy first noticed that the house was tidy, but not obsessively. It still looked lived-in and that eased her nerves somewhat. They followed Mr Lowry through to the lounge and whilst Emily sat with him, Teddy worked on Holden.

“Hey, Holden, can you show me your room?”

“Okay!” He seemed to perk up at the suggestion and eagerly hurried ahead to show Teddy where it was. She shared a glance with Emily before getting a go-ahead nod. As she followed Holden through the house she made notes on the pictures hanging up, the memorabilia displayed on the cabinets and the personal touches to the decor of the house itself.

Holden’s room was almost no different to every other child’s bedroom she’d been in whilst on the job and that offered some comfort. His dresser was a little cluttered with a few stray toys, clothes and some pictures of the three of them together, but the room itself was fairly well put together. The walls were a soft cornflower blue and paired with a light grey shagpile carpet. A toy chest stood in the far corner near his wardrobe and laundry hamper.

“Wow, this sure is a nice room. Do you keep it tidy all by yourself?” she questioned as the young boy picked up one of the few superhero action figures that were scattered across the room.

“Most of the time. Mommy helped clean the big things. I just put away my toys and clothes.”

“Oh? What kind of big things?”

“The mirror, windows… and sometimes she’d clean the carpet too,” he admitted as he twisted and contorted the action figure mindlessly before handing it to Teddy.

“Thank you, Holden. Can you tell me who this is? I don't know many superheroes by name.” He picked up another and sat on his bed. Teddy realised he was waiting for her to join him, so she did. She took up a perch on the edge of his bed, feeling a little too big to be sat on it.

“This is Captain America,” he explained, pointing to the one in Teddy’s lap, “He’s a good guy. He doesn’t have any powers, but his shield is made out of the strongest metal in the world.” The longer Teddy sat and talked to Holden, the more was revealed by the young boy. Trips they went on, their home life, how he was doing at school. Nothing that raised any immediate red flags for Teddy, which was a good start.

“Holden,” the doe-eyed boy turned to face her, “did your Mommy and Daddy ever argue about anything? Or did you ever hear them get mad about something?” He thought for a long while, still fiddling with a lego model he’d picked up to show her.

“Well…” he began, brow still firmly creased in thought, “Mommy made Daddy sleep on the couch after we came back from Aunt Lisa’s. She yelled at him about something called a _dee-force_.”

 _Oh._ Teddy’s heart bounced up to her throat momentarily.

“Divorce? Are you sure, Holden? That’s a pretty serious word,” she explained as he came back to the bed and sat down again.

“Yeah… Daddy said I shouldn’t worry about it, though.” There was a momentary pause in the conversation before he spoke up again, which took Teddy by surprise.

“What’s a divorce?”

“You’re better off asking your dad about that, Holden,” Teddy rebuffed gently as Emily appeared in the doorway.

“Hey, Holden, we need to go now, but if you remember anything else, you can call - or ask your dad to call one of us and we can talk again, alright?” He seemed okay with that and let Teddy leave without resistance. He even walked them to the door and waved them goodbye, which made Teddy smile.

“So,” Emily started as they climbed back into the SUV and belted up, “Did you find out anything? Or were you lumbered with the action figures?” Teddy knew she was only teasing and laughed it off, putting her bag in the footwell between her booted feet.

“I did. Holden said that they visited his Aunt Lisa’s recently and his parents argued about something, she yelled at Mister Lowry about wanting a divorce and made him sleep on the couch. Holden was spared the truth but I think I might’ve reopened that can of worms,” she explained and Emily’s mouth fell agape in surprise.

“Mister Lowry didn’t even breathe the word _divorce_. Do you think it could’ve been the reason Martha Lowry was murdered?”

“I’m not saying for certain, but that could be the common thread between all our victims that helps narrow down the suspect pool,” she stated with a shrug as they continued to the next family.

The Riordan family were much the same; young son and daughter, seemingly decent homelife on the surface, but Teddy managed to eke out the puzzle piece they were missing. With their new-found information in mind, they headed back to the station and shared their findings.

“Both the Lowry’s and the Riordan’s had seemingly decent lives, no struggles or stressors that could’ve deteriorated homelife. Unless you go looking for it; both Martha Lowry and Linda Riordan had threatened their respective spouses with divorce, following the reveal of prolonged affairs from both men,” Emily began, gesturing to the pictures of the first two women on the board.

“If they’d gone through with the divorce proceedings, it’s highly likely that Mister Lowry and Mister Riordan would’ve lost custody of the children - or at least had to give up a majority of their parental rights,” Teddy added on, not completely ignorant to the fact that Spencer’s eyes hadn’t left her since they started talking.

“From this information, we can assume that the unsub was probably a child of divorce, faced with a similar situation to the children involved in most of these cases and wanted to eliminate the chances of them feeling the same loss and divide that he once did.”

“We may not be looking at victims who resemble the Unsub’s mother, but quite possibly are representative of the Unsub’s _ex-wife_.” Spencer’s addition spurred Derek into motion, speed dialling Garcia and asking her to run a correlation check.

“Could it be possible that the Unsub is someone familiar with the law?” Teddy suggested from her seat nearest the door, a cardboard cup of tea in her hands.

“A divorce lawyer?”

“A _would-be_. He probably failed the Bar but knows at the very least, enough to pass himself off as a free-lancer,” Teddy corrected as Spencer added that possibility to the whiteboard. That seemed to be the idea that set the ball rolling and all that was left to do whilst Garcia worked her magic, was to scour the case files again and any schedules or diaries the victims kept in hopes of cross-referencing a common name between them.

Spencer managed to identify a recurring number in all the victim’s phones and was just as quick to pass it on to Garcia. Teddy reviewed the crime scene photos and grew increasingly more frustrated that nothing seemed to jump out at her or point to any more clues as to who this unsub could be. As people started to come and go, offering to collect lunches or coffee for those who remained seated, Teddy was surprised when Spencer took the empty seat to her right.

“You spoke to the children of the first two victims, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied slowly, the word reflecting a faint Bostonian drawl.

“And that’s how we found out about the potential divorces - what if there’s more we’re missing because it was never on record? What do the other kids know about their parents that no one else did?”

“What - what are you saying? That there’s more to this if we look at all the children of the victims? I don't think we have enough time for that, Reid,” she admitted with an apologetic smile, though she did think he was on to something.

“Okay, okay how about you help me map out all the places most frequented by the victims before their deaths? Coffee shops, their jobs, restaurants they ate at - see if we can find some overlap?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” she assured him with a nod before pushing herself on to her feet and crossing over to the board, Spencer in tow. There was a tiny sliver of hope in Teddy’s chest that made her feel like they’d gotten on top of this, that it’d be over in the blink of an eye. As they began circling locations on the large glass copy of the map, Teddy handed Spencer a different marker - the one he’d picked up wasn’t working - and for a split-second, their fingers grazed. It sent a small tingle across her skin, but she brushed it off and thought nothing of it.


	2. Caught In The Web

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: interrogation, broken wrist (in self defense), mild language, vague hints of threatening language(?), rescuing of a hostage

_**If you are facing a new challenge or being asked to do something that you have never done before don’t be afraid to step out. You have more capability than you think you do but you will never see it unless you place a demand on yourself for more. – Joyce Meyer** _

Teddy and Spencer’s combined efforts proved to be fruitful after almost an hour of mapping out the victim’s most frequented locations. There was a choice of three bars that were the most likely places for them to have overlapped.

“Hotch, Teddy and I are going to scope out the three bars that came up and see if we can get any more on our unsub,” Spencer explained over the phone as they grabbed their jackets and bags. Teddy followed him out of the building to the car. As they moved down the path, Teddy failed to notice a loose paving slab with a crack in it. The toe of her boot caught the edge of the slab and sent her stumbling.

“Woah - hey, are you alright?” Spencer had caught her by the forearm and helped her straighten up, giving her a quick once-over.

“Yeah, I’m fine - sorry, I can be a clutz sometimes,” she laughed it off as she realised that his hand was still holding her forearm. Spencer seemed to catch on and was quick to let her go with a nervous smile. Without saying anything more, they carried on to the car and wasted no more time in navigating their way to the closest bar first.

The only word Teddy could muster to describe the first bar was; _dive_. Country rock played a little too loudly and she tried not to think about the way her shoes stuck to the floor. The whole place reeked of stale alcohol and cigarette smoke. Subconsciously, she kept herself behind Spencer’s shoulder, not enjoying the way the atmosphere settled on her.

“You kids look a little lost to be in here,” a barmaid jeered from behind the waxy wooden countertop. Reid cleared his throat and moved over to the bar, Teddy shouldered her satchel and followed after him.

“We’re just passing through, hoping to get some information on someone,” Spencer stated simply, keeping his voice neutral. The barmaid tipped her chin at the duo, slowly wiping down the counter.

“Why?”

“Because we’re federal agents and failure to comply counts as obstruction of justice,” Teddy interjected, taking both the barmaid and Spencer by surprise. 

“You got some attitude, huh? Alright, what do you need to know?” Teddy and Spencer slid the pictures of the victims across the bar. There were six in total. That they’d known of.

“Have you seen or served any of these women in the past three months? Or saw them with someone that you might consider a regular?”

“They’re not in trouble, are they?”

“Ma’am, these women are dead. We believe they potentially could’ve met their killer here.” The woman blanched at Teddy’s words. There was no other way of sugar-coating it if they wanted to get answers.

“Please, try and think of anyone - someone who blends right in, they’re a fairly sociable person. We also have reason to believe they failed at becoming a lawyer, but use that as a way of drawing the victims in -”

“He gets them to open up about any marital problems they might be having and offers his services as a divorce lawyer. He might not necessarily be the first person you notice when you walk into a room, but he’s always in that room,” Teddy added on before drawing her bottom lip between her teeth. She thought about it for a while longer before shaking her head.

“No, I’m sorry, most people we get in here are just passing through, scarcely any regulars or new regs, I’m afraid.” With a disappointed sigh, Teddy and Spencer gathered up the photographs. 

“Thanks for your time, ma’am.” The pair turned and left, heading back to the car to move on to the next bar. Once they were back in the vehicle and on the move, a slightly awkward silence fell between them.

“So, Doctor Reid -”

“It’s okay, you can call me Spencer,” he assured her with a tight-lipped smile.

“Oh, okay. I was just going to ask if you think we’re making the right move here - if he wasn’t at the first, the chances of him ever being at the second or third is way lower than before.”

“I think so. Besides, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have bothered asking you to come along with me. Having said that, if you think otherwise, don't be afraid to tell me,” he replied, keeping his gaze fixed on the road ahead of them.

Five minutes later they arrived at a slightly less _broken-in_ bar, though the country and western theme was still just as present as before. Side by side, they entered together and almost in perfect unison put their badges on the table.

“You both look a little young to be FBI,” the greying bartender commented as he threw a rag over his shoulder.

“You’re not the only person to have said that, sir. I’m Doctor Spencer Reid, this is my colleague Doctor Theodora Wilson. We were hoping you’d be able to answer some questions for us?” At Spencer’s words, he seemed to go rigid for a moment. Teddy recognised the hesitation in his eyes.

“Whatever it is they said I did, it’s all bullshit,” he stated before they laid the pictures out in front of him.

“We believe these women were potentially last seen in a bar like this. Do any of them look familiar to you?” Teddy became hopeful when he doubled back and picked up one of the pictures he’d already looked at.

“They all kind of look familiar, when do you think they were here?”

“Only within the last few months. They might’ve come back several times and met with the same person -”

“Oh! There was this one fella, real sharp dresser, sat in the corner. He’d spend hours talkin’ to ‘em and sometimes they’d leave together.” Both Doctors breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Okay, that’s good - can you remember what this man looked like?” Teddy questioned as she reached into her satchel and produced a small sketchbook, no bigger than the size of her hand, with a pencil tucked into the spiral bindings.

“Yeah… He had a kinda sharp face, heavy five o’clock shadow, styled hair - probably used some fancy products on it - and last I saw him he had a scar across his left cheekbone.” Teddy sketched and she could feel Spencer watching her. She tried not to think about it too much as she marked out the proportions and began filling in the facial features.

“A cut? Was it a big one?” she questioned as she started to blend out the lines with the tip of her middle finger.

“Oh yeah, one of the guys asked and he said it was from helping a neighbour cut down a tree.”

“You don't sound convinced?” Spencer chimed in as he momentarily looked away from Teddy and her small sketchpad.

“Ah, well, he didn’t strike me as the type is all - too much of the city in him to picture him ever cuttin’ down a tree.”

“Right… Tell me, did he look something like this?” Teddy turned the sketchpad around and both men were pleasantly surprised by a fairly detailed sketch that seemed to resemble the bartender’s description. He let out a low whistle and took the cap off his head before wiping his brow on the back of his hand, replacing the cap afterwards.

“That’s a keen eye you got there, Miss,” he commented with a nod.

“Is this the man in question or isn’t it?” she reiterated, passing it over the bar to him and waiting patiently for his judgement. Teddy cast a glance at Spencer and awkwardly smiled. The bartender handed the sketchpad back and his expression had become sombre.

“He had a slightly heavier brow but that’s near as damnit the guy I’ve been seein’ around here.” Upon his confirmation, Spencer gathered up the victim’s photos and Teddy tucked the sketchpad and pencil back into her satchel.

“If you see him again at any point, here’s my card. Contact us _immediately_ ,” she instructed firmly before turning to Spencer and nodding to the door.

“Let’s get this picture to JJ and Garcia.” They left and began their short journey back to the police station. Once in the car and on the move, a heavy silence settled between them until Spencer cleared his throat.

“That was impressive, back there. With - with the sketchpad. Do you just _do_ that?”

“Do what? Draw? All the time. That’s actually why I carry around my little sketchbook,” she explained as she wrung her fingers together out of nervous habit. Spencer didn’t press the matter any further as they pulled up outside and he cut the engine.

“If it’s alright with you, I’m gonna go ahead and get straight into looking through our files so far and all the evidence, I have a strong feeling he’s going to strike again and soon.”

“Oh, yeah! Don't worry about it. I’ll join you when I’m done with Garcia and JJ.” They re-entered the building and split in opposite directions. Teddy found JJ talking to one of the more recent victim’s family when she approached. The blonde liaison excused herself when she spotted Teddy and they stepped to one side. Teddy handed over her sketchbook on the page she’d drawn on.

“A bartender at a local bar provided the description and confirmed that the victims had been in the bar regularly leading up to their deaths,” she stated confidently as JJ took in the sketch, eyes widened slightly in disbelief.

“You drew this?”

“Yeah - it’s rushed and the details could be better, I know but -”

“No, no, Teddy this is good, this is a huge help. I’ll get the picture circulating and I’m assuming you’re going to pass it on to Garcia to run through her system?”

“Oh… Thank you. And yes, that was the plan,” the dimpled brunette added with a smile. JJ turned to leave when a rush of anxiety overtook her and she caught JJ by the elbow.

“Hey, um, I’m not being too forward, am I? Or overstepping in any way? Because that’s the last thing I want to do -”

“No, not at all. It makes a nice change. You’re doing a great job so far, Doctor Wilson,” JJ assured her with a smile before heading on her way. A lightness settled on Teddy that put a spring in her step as she returned to the board room. Spencer and Derek were sat amongst the papers and photographs, neglected cups of coffee set aside.

“Anything new?” The incoherent noises of disproval told her as much as their actual words. She huffed out a laugh before taking a seat, putting her satchel between her feet and reaching for a few of the photographs.

“Until we either get a hit from your sketch or someone else goes missing, we’re just waiting on Garcia or for something to jump out at us that we hadn’t noticed before.” Teddy hummed in acknowledgement before stretching to hold one of the pictures an arm’s length away and upside down.

“Uh… Doc, you know that picture is upside down, right?” Derek questioned as he set his copy of the file down on the table.

“Yeah - oh, this is just something I do. Like when you start a Wordsearch and you only have a few words left. Sometimes your eyes get so used to seeing the random letters that if you turn them upside down, it helps point out the words you’re missing,” she explained in a lulled tone, her mind too busy working on analysing the photographs from the new angle to speak any louder.

“Right… And that works?”

“Most of the time. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to try and apply it to photographs. We’ve been staring at them for so long now that nothing unusual will register unless we take the picture and turn it around. Then I might be able to spot anything anomalous…” Neither one of them questioned her after that and let her do her thing.

Almost an hour had passed, it was starting to get dark outside and it was clear that energy was starting to wain between the - now reunited - team. Every so often someone would suggest a possible angle or MO but no one was able to add on. Though eventually they were put out of their misery when Garcia got back to them.

“Talk to us, Baby Girl,” Derek greeted as he leaned back in his chair, a pencil tucked behind his ear.

 _“Well, despite Teddy’s almost immaculate sketch, it was tough to get a match. But, that’s not to say I didn’t get any matches at all. Our potential unsub is a Gary Howard, he works from home but you were right about the failed Bar Exam,”_ Garcia began and the morale began to improve around the room.

“How long ago?”

_“Almost seven months ago. He doesn’t have much of a record but he was reported for harassment of a female colleague who’d recently divorced and won the custody battle - and get this - Howard’s childhood was marred by the reveal of an affair on his mother’s part. Parents split, he never got to see his father again -”_

“They’re revenge killings. He’s substituting the women for his mother - they threatened to break up the family and that triggered him into lashing out,” Hotch observed, stood by the door. He’d been pacing whilst Garcia spoke but had momentarily stopped to inject his thoughts.

“Are his parents still alive?” Emily questioned from her position by the window. They heard the clicking of the keyboard keys in the background whilst the blonde techie searched.

_“Yes and no. Father died ten years ago, mother’s alive as far as I can tell, still living just outside of town.”_

“Well, we should assume that right now we’re in his cooling-off period and mother dearest is the last on the list.” No one could argue with Rossi’s addition. Teddy sat forward and picked at the corner of her thumb.

“Why would we assume that?” the chief of police questioned and Teddy spoke up before she could stop herself.

“Because the six women he killed were all experiments. Dry runs. He might’ve done _almost_ the same thing to each of the victims, but they’re both expressions of resentment and rage and it was his process of working out what he wanted to do for the real thing.”

“She’s essentially saying that the slight variations and minutiae that differs between the victims are the deciding factors in what he wants to do to his mother.”

“Garcia, can you forward the address?”

_“Already done, Brown Sugar. I’ve also forwarded Howard’s license plate and his home and work address.”_

“You’re a Goddess, Garcia,” Derek praised before hanging up. Everyone looked to Hotch and Rossi for the plan of action.

“Reid, Prentiss you get to Howard’s workplace. Morgan and I’ll visit his place, then his mother. Rossi and Wilson, I want you here to set up the interrogation room.” She was happy with that - she’d sat in on, and observed, plenty of interrogations to know what to expect. They all split to get ready and Teddy took it upon herself to tidy up and reorganise their files and the evidence.

“I want you to take point on the interrogation,” Rossi stated once everyone had left. The curly-haired brunette halted her actions abruptly. There must have been an obvious discomfort in her eyes because Rossi stepped closer and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Sir, I don't think that’s a good idea -”

“I get the feeling you’re an exceptional judge of character and he won’t see it coming. We both present ourselves to him, unload all the files etcetera, then I’ll leave to observe and let you work on him,” he tried to assure her with a firm nod.

“But I’ve never interrogated anyone! And in case it escaped your powers of observation, I don't _look_ very threatening, Rossi,” she rebutted with a nervous shake of her head.

“Then you should use that to your advantage. I’m extending a privilege to you, Doc. I firmly believe you’re our best bet at getting Howard to talk.” She couldn’t argue with that. If Rossi had that much faith in her after only 10 hours, all that she could do was fulfil his request.

“It’s scary how much faith you’re putting in me for a task I’ve never done before.”

“I also like to think I’m an exceptional judge of character,” he admitted with a smile as one of the deputies appeared.

“Room’s all set up.”

“Perfect.” They took a moment to just gather themselves in preparation for what was to come. Teddy found herself somewhat comforted by the older man’s presence, it felt more paternal than her father’s presence ever had, she realised bitterly as she reached for her tea.

“Something funny?” Rossi questioned when she’d stifled a sour laugh.

“Not really… I’m sorry if this crosses a line, but you already act like more of a father than mine ever did.”

“Growing up in Massachusetts wasn’t easy then, I take it?” Teddy nodded, then stopped. Rossi hadn’t been with them at lunch when she’d told everyone where she was from.

“How’d you guess I was from Mass?”

“You might’ve trained yourself out of your Bostonian accent, but even I could hear it in the way you said, _father_.” Teddy’s cheeks and ears burned with embarrassment.

“Ah. Yeah, I guess.”

“It’s a tough accent to train yourself out of -”

“Yeah, I started when I was sixteen. Figured no one would take me seriously otherwise,” she stated with a shrug. A beat passed before they both stood up and gathered what they needed before they headed over to the interrogation room.

They didn’t have to wait long - which Teddy was thankful for - though it was completely dark outside when they did eventually bring in Howard. Teddy had gone through another three cups of tea when Rossi gave her the go-ahead.

The tension hung thick in the air when she entered the interrogation room, casting a nervous glance at the two-way mirror. Gary Howard was sat forward, forearms resting against the tabletop. He was slightly dishevelled, no doubt from being hassled out of his home.

“Well, you’re a pretty young thing. Are you some kind of intern?” She smiled sweetly as she took a seat across from him.

“No, no I’m Doctor Theodora Wilson. Mister Howard, I’m sure they read you your rights and told you why you’re here?”

“You think I killed someone?”

“Not just someone, Gary, _six_ women.” He scoffed and sat back in his seat, handcuffs jingling slightly.

“Oh? What gives you that idea, Doc?”

“We have a witness who can place you in their bar with at least five of the six victims. We also have a DNA match from traces found around the last crime scene,” she stated without a stutter or fumble, surprising herself.

“Is that all?” Teddy refrained from rolling her eyes too obviously before she decided it was time to change her tactic.

“Alright, Gary, I’ll level with you. I know,” she admitted with a shrug, closing the file in her lap and setting it down on the tabletop.

“Know? What do you know?”

“That, when you were nine, things started to go wrong. Something wasn’t right. Your father would leave on odd days and at random times without reason. He didn’t even try to come up with a ruse to cover his tracks.”

“I don't know what you’re talking about,” he defended, though it was clear from the sudden change in demeanour that she was making progress.

“Oh, I think you do, Gary. Because it went on for two years, didn’t it? And when you were eleven the levee finally broke -”

“No -”

“Daddy dearest came clean and Mommy saw red. She divorced your father and took you with her. You used to be close with your father until that point. Then you never saw him again -”

“You better shut the hell up -”

“And you resented her with every passing day that she’d taken you from the only semi-decent man in your life.”

“You don't know me -”

“But I _do,_ Gary. And I know that that resentment grew and manifested itself into such a hatred for anyone that even remotely resembled her. You moved away as soon as you could and tried to make a better life for yourself. Then you started noticing them. All the other women divorcing their husbands and taking their kids -”

“No!”

“Yes! But you didn’t want to kill them after the fact, no, you wanted to get revenge on them before they’d even had the chance to file for a divorce. What were you thinking? That you were doing all those children a service by killing their mothers?”

“Shut up!” He lunged across and grabbed her harshly, fingertips digging into her forearm. In the blink of an eye, she’d grabbed his wrist and twisted so sharply that the almost deafening crack that followed was too satisfying to be true. Howard recoiled with a cry of pain.

“You snot-nosed bitch…” he whimpered as Rossi and Hotch entered the small room. Teddy was breathing a little harder than normal but was otherwise okay.

“I prefer to go by the term _Doctor_.”

“That’s enough, Wilson, take a knee,” Hotch instructed and Teddy was all too happy to oblige. As she entered the corridor and the door shut behind her, she finally allowed herself to acknowledge the tremor in her hands. The adrenaline rush had burned fast and bright but was entirely needed.

“You alright?” Emily questioned, poking her head into the corridor before stepping out fully and joining Teddy. The wily-haired Doctor nodded and let out a shaky breath.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks.”

“I gotta say, that was pretty impressive, didn’t see it coming,” the older woman stated with a shrug as they watched a first aider enter the interrogation room to patch Howard up.

“Neither did he, evidently,” Teddy joked and the two of them shared a laugh. The tension seemed to ease off and she felt a little better already.

“Well, you should probably get some water and take a few minutes before rejoining us. Do you want someone to come with you?”

“Thanks, Emily, but I’m not twelve. I think I can be a big girl and manage to go to the water cooler and back,” the young doctor assured her teammate before heading off in search of a drink.

After downing several small paper cups of water, Teddy made a brief stop at the bathroom. When the door shut, she took several deep breaths and ran the cold tap, holding her wrists under the running water. She cracked her knuckles and rolled her neck to rid herself of the tension that had taken over her body. It worked, for the most part, so she made her way back to the interrogation room, though she opted to sit behind the glass this time.

“The way you handled that was -” Derek imitated a chef’s kiss and Teddy chuckled with a grin.

“Thank you?” He nodded with a wink before they turned back to watch the interrogation unravel and Howard’s facade quickly began to crumble away. Though the light atmosphere dropped when Howard confessed to holding a seventh woman and gave up the details.

“Oh my God…” Thankfully, Rossi and Hotch had the sense to call in one of the officers nearby to keep him detained until they got back. It was a mad rush to the SUVs and Teddy found herself crammed into the backseat between Morgan and Spencer whilst Emily sat in the front and Rossi drove. The others followed behind and they spared no expense in practically racing over to Howard’s address.

Once they’d pulled up on the curb and climbed out, vests were passed around and it dawned on Teddy that in a single day with the BAU she’d done more fieldwork than she’d done in almost seven years in DC. She didn’t think that was a bad thing though. Not that she had time to dwell on it as they approached the house. She was near the back with Spencer whilst Rossie, Hotch and Derek led the way with Emily and JJ in the middle.

The house was completely dark and empty, with no sign of the seventh victim anywhere. Teddy and Spencer made their way through the kitchen, still on high alert as they scanned around the room. Teddy noticed something odd about a tall, free-standing cupboard near the corner. She alerted Spencer with a tap on the shoulder and nodded in the general direction before walking that way.

“It’s a broom cupboard?” Teddy pointed to the doorknob, a small turn over locking mechanism was in the centre of the brass sphere.

“Why would you need to lock up your brooms?” she countered before twisting the lock and handle. The door swung open with a loud creaking noise that echoed slightly. The rest of the team caught up and crowded around the ‘cupboard’. In front of them was no cupboard but in fact, a stairway into what she assumed was a basement. Altogether, they headed down the questionable wooden stairs, weapons raised and flashlight beams sweeping back and forth. When they reached the bottom they fanned out, searching around and behind everything they could.

“Over here!” Emily called out from the far end and everyone rushed over. They breathed a sigh of relief when the raven-haired agent confirmed she still had a pulse. She was beaten and bruised and almost unrecognisable as a human. Derek was tasked with carrying her out and after a final sweep, they moved out. Teddy was relieved that they’d found her but there was still a strange sense of unease that lingered in the back of her mind.

“Let’s wrap this up and get home,” Rossi stated as they all got back into the SUVs and headed back to the police station to gather their things and finalise the paperwork.


	3. Growing Pains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: mild language, discussion of child endangerment/kidnapping, multiple deaths of under 18s, mentions of a prior case involving children/CSA

_**When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind - Patrick Rothfuss** _

Three weeks later and Teddy had never settled into a routine so quickly. She’d become a natural part of the team and was already accustomed to life in the BAU. With her morning Pomegranate tea in hand, she made her way up to the Bullpen with a spring in her step. Balanced in her other hand was a tray of assorted coffees for her colleagues in hopes of making them all a little happier. **  
**

“Morning!” she chirped as she set the coffees down on Emily’s desk and let everyone pick what they wanted. Various sounds of happiness and comments of thanks were chorused as she took her seat. The stack of paperwork on her desk was sizeable but she didn’t care. Teddy was used to paperwork, filing and sorting and finalising came as second nature after such a long stint in DC.

“You’re too good to us, Teddy Bear,” Derek teased as he took a sip from the cardboard cup. Teddy just laughed it off with a shrug before she caught a glimpse of Spencer, sat across from her with his coffee. They shared a brief, somewhat awkward smile and a wave before Hotch appeared on the balustrade.

“Don’t get too cosy, we have a new case.” The eruptions of displeased agents made Teddy chuckle under her breath as she reorganised her desk. By the time the ten o’clock briefing came around her desk was neatly in order and the paperwork partly started. As they took their seats in the round table room and the files were passed around, Teddy’s morning pep disappeared when she noticed how distraught JJ looked.

“This is going to be a little hard to hear, so if you need to step out at any point, please do. Dorchester, Boston in Massachusetts last year, twelve kids all went missing in the space of three months. Then, almost a month after the last child went missing, the first seven were found…” JJ stopped and Teddy knew that it was going to get worse. The whole team could feel it was going to be a heavy-sitting case.

“They were found completely spread out; Chestnut Hill reservation, Belle Isle Marsh, the Neponset River, Mill Pond and Jamaica Pond.” Teddy’s blood ran cold and nausea settled in her stomach and at the back of her throat. She swallowed thickly before trying to keep up with what JJ was saying.

“Evidence suggests the Unsub used extreme physical force against the victims, there were ligature marks around their ankles and wrists… And in some cases, signs of sexual violence perimortem.” No one said anything for a long three minutes - according to Teddy’s watch.

“So what’s brought this case to us?” Rossi questioned as he tapped his pen against the manila file. JJ cleared her throat before turning to the monitor and putting four new pictures on the screen.

“Last week, the first three on the left were taken in broad daylight from just outside Faneuil Market in the main drag of Boston. The boy on the right was taken last night from a local park.”

“Well, from what we know already it’s clear that he holds on to them for as long as he deems necessary before he gets rid of them. For now, we can assume they’re all still alive and I think the best approach we can take is keeping it all as low profile as possible,” Emile suggested and there seemed to be a mutual agreement.

“Where are they all from?” Teddy’s words left her mouth before she could stop them, though she didn’t have time to regret speaking before JJ answered.

“The most recent victims are from Melrose, Mass. Families all said the same thing, they were out for the day in Boston, they looked away for just a moment and when they looked back, their child was gone. With the most recent victim, his parents were making lunch, they turned to pick up the cooler, turned back and he was gone.” Teddy stood up and excused herself. Her throat tightened and her stomach churned as she began to piece together what was going on.

She took a seat on the floor outside the round table room and began forcing herself to take deep, steady breaths to calm down. Moments later, Spencer appeared and knelt next to her.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah - yeah… JJ was right, this _is_ going to be tough,” she mused bitterly in reply before shaking herself out of it.

“Are you sure it’s not also because it’s in Boston? I know from experience that cases in our hometowns or States feel a little more personal than others,” he suggested gently as she tried to wipe the sweat from her palms on to her jeans.

“No, it’s not that, I haven’t been back to Boston since I was sixteen, there’s nothing personal left there,” Teddy admitted with a shrug before forcing herself on to her feet. She gave Spencer a hand up and they returned to the briefing. Thankfully, no one questioned her, only brought her up to speed on what they had already started to piece together.

Teddy’s brain was foggy with an overhaul of thoughts. The overlapping noise developed into a headache that she managed to mask fairly well until they got on the jet. As she dropped into her seat, planning to spend the two-hour journey asleep, Spencer took the seat across from her with a friendly smile. Teddy didn’t expect him to lean over and hand her a bottle of Advil and water.

“For the headache.” He kept his voice quiet and she was thankful for that, not needing anyone else to know that she was ailing.

“Thanks.” With a growing smile, she shook out two Advil and cracked open the bottle of water. Once it was dealt with, she found it a little easier to sit back and relax. Though she didn’t find sleep, she did find herself reading (or rather, re-reading) her Edgar Allan Poe collection book. The spine was a little too worn but the cover retained its original glamour; black background with holographic text and decor printed on top.

“Are you a big fan of Poe?” Spencer questioned, though his voice was scarcely louder than it had been before. With an enthusiastic nod, she dog-eared the page and looked up at him.

“I love all of his work. _A Valentine_? Unbelievable. _Annabel Lee_? Broke my heart and makes me cry every time. _The Raven_? I memorised it word for word. There’s something so _otherworldly_ about Gothic literature that just hits you in a way no other genre can,” she rambled with a mile-wide smile.

“I’m more of _The Cask of Amontillado_ , personally. _The Masque of The Red Death_ was pretty good too,” Spencer stated with a slight shrug, a smile tugging on the corner of his mouth. Teddy shook her head and sat forward.

“Of course.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Spencer’s face took on a look of confusion and offence.

“Nothing! Just that I should’ve guessed you were the type,” she teased with a brilliant smile and a bubble of laughter erupting from her lips.

“Don’t tell me; you prefer to read Chaucer to Brother’s Grimm?”

“What’s wrong with Chaucer?” Teddy couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Seriously?!”

“The Grimm brothers wrote fairy tales from oral sources, Chaucer is widely considered the father of English literature,” Spencer defended, also leaning forward to punctuate his point. Teddy shook her head, a stubborn smile painting itself across her lips.

“Have you even read a Grimm Fairy Tale?”

“I never needed to nor considered it a necessity. What’s your deal with Grimm?”

“Oh, I’m _so_ loaning you my copy of the hardback collection,” she decided with finality and crossed her arms over her chest.

“You’re - you’re gonna get _mad_ at me because I don’t read fairy tales?”

“What - I - No, no I’m not gonna sit here and let you slander them. They were so much more than just the ones who wrote fairy tales. They were lexicographers, philologists, academics and cultural researchers! They published and passed on folklore stories because they were worried that industrialisation would wipe them out from history.”

“Not that I don’t love listening to Pretty Boy getting schooled, but we’re going to be landing soon, so you might want to put your belts back on,” Derek commented over his shoulder from the seat across from the pair. Flushed pink from neck to ears, the two of them obliged and clipped their belts back into place as the plane began to descend.

The (thankfully) short drive to Melrose PD was spent in the back seat with Hotch driving, Emily shotgun and Teddy in the back. Spencer, JJ, Derek and Rossi had taken the other SUV. When they pulled up and climbed out to regroup, Teddy’s palms became slick with sweat again.

“Alright, Rossi and I will revisit the places the most recent four victims were taken from, Morgan and Prentiss I want you to take point on getting up to speed with the families. Reid and Wilson, you’re on starting a preliminary profile and geographical profile. JJ, obviously you’re on press and stressing to the officers the importance of keeping this low profile.” Hotch’s instructions rang in her ears as they entered the building. With it being early November, the weather outside was bitterly cold but the inside of the police precinct was toasty. Within minutes of being shown the board room they could use, Teddy had to shed her jacket and chunky-knit sweater.

“So, I’m going to get started on tacking up pictures, getting a thought-board together -” Over his shoulder, Teddy spotted a familiar face and her heart jumped into her throat.

“Sounds great. I’ll follow your lead. If you could just excuse me for a moment, I’ll be right back,” she assured him before weaving around the confused Doctor. When she was within arm’s reach, the familiar face turned and realised who she was.

“Well, I’ll be damned, Theo -”

“Max, please, I’m only going to ask once. No one can know that we know each other - at all, okay?” His face dropped and his brow furrowed. It was clear that he didn’t quite understand what was going on.

“What are you doing here, Theo?” She shook her head and lowered her voice.

“Please, call me Doctor Wilson. I’m here for the kidnapping and murder cases - the children?”

“Oh… _Doctor_ , huh? Sounds real grown-up, when did that happen?”

“A few years ago - look, it’s nothing personal, I swear but I’ve only been on this team a few weeks. They can’t know.”

“Know what?”

“That I grew up here, Max. That we know each other. That God forbid, this unsub might be someone we knew,” she explained as quietly as possible, her stomach still twisting and churning like a knot of vipers.

“Well, then can I just take one last minute to say that it is really good to see you again, Theo. Shit hasn’t been the same around here without you.” A twinge of sadness twisted its way into her chest as she patted him on the arm before turning and walking away. She returned to Reid and the Thought-Board, plastering a cheery smile on her face before he could turn around and spot the frown.

“Do you know the area at all?” he questioned whilst pinning the pictures of the four victims to the board.

“Not really. I know most of the places the other victims were from though - the ones from last year.”

“Right - hey, did you know that Massachusetts is the most populous state on the East Coast? And that this town - Melrose - is one of the richest towns in the state? Rivalled only by Newtown and Newburyport,” he stated as if it was just common knowledge, which took Teddy by surprise and temporarily broke the guilt that had settled on her.

“Wow, no I didn’t know that. But now I do, so thank you for that.” After that, the following twenty minutes were spent organising the boards and labelling the victims, laying out all their information; their school, their parents and home life, friends, where they were last seen, the clothes they last wore. It was somewhat overwhelming but Teddy didn’t let herself drown. It was obvious to her that Spencer was still abuzz from their debate on the jet and that cheered her up a little.

“Okay, so Amy Richards, Jason Green and Calum Marks were all taken from outside Faneuil Market last Thursday and Friday. Bobby Thompson didn’t go missing until last night from Colby Park,” Spencer stated as he finished tacking things to the board, he took a step back and allowed Teddy to look at it too. Their pictures stared back at her, smiling and bright. **  
**

“The Unsub has to be in a position of power - or at the very least a uniform that the kids can trust,” she suggested whilst chewing on the corner of her thumbnail.

“Postal? Police?” She tried to wrack her brain for the one that made the most sense.

“No - no what if it wasn’t someone in a uniform after all? Uniform would’ve attracted attention and probably would’ve stuck with witnesses…”

“So he blends in, can put on a friendly enough of a facade that these kids trust him - otherwise they’d resist or cause a scene,” Spencer mused in reply. They both stood in almost identical poses, staring at the board, waiting for answers to present themselves. Things went quiet and the only noise was that of the rest of the police station; general chatter, phones ringing, paperwork, drawers, doors.

“Dog,” Teddy stated after a few moments.

“What?”

“These kids are from one of the richest areas in the state - you said so yourself - they’d know better than to just willingly walk off with a stranger because they told them so. There has to be some kind of ruse -”

“A lost dog,” Spencer realised, finishing the sentence for her. She nodded and moved to the glass print of the map with a dry erase marker.

“Colby Park, Faneuil Market, they’re both dog-friendly. To an extent. He may not even have a dog any more, but it’s a ruse that hasn’t failed him yet,” she explained as she circled the two locations and then drew a third circle around Melrose Middle School.

“Why did you circle the school?”

“Because if we don’t get anything on dog owners, kids always recognise their teachers,” she stated simply before capping the pen and taking a step back.

“I’ll call Garcia and have her run background checks on school staff. After that, dog owners or walkers in the area.” Teddy thought that was a good a start as any. They continued to review what they’d been given and on several occasions bounced ideas off of one another, trying to find the Unsub’s angle.

“I’m going for a refill, you want one?” she questioned as she stood up and nodded to his empty coffee cup. Spencer turned to face her in the wheelie chair he’d found and a grin etched itself on to his boyish features.

“That’d be great, thanks - just a little creamer -”

“And a lot of sugar, I got it,” she teased with a smile as she breezed out the door. Teddy found her way into the break room and set up the coffee machine for Spencer before going in search of a teabag for herself.

“So,” Max appeared and dumped out the remains of his coffee flask “You come up with anything new, Doc?” Teddy hummed in reply as she found a tea bag and began waiting for the hot water.

“Kind of - we think the Unsub is a part of Melrose community, or at the very least, knows Boston and the surrounding areas well enough. Probably had some sort of ruse to lure the kids in and separate them from the parental units,” she explained as she retrieved Reid’s cup and put in two of the UHT creamers.

“Oh, right… Yeah, that’s smart. Listen, it might be out of line to ask but could we get dinner? To catch up?” Teddy turned around with a stony expression on her face. She shook her head and disposed of the wooden stirrer she’d used in Reid’s coffee. Her hands shook ever so slightly as she poured hot water into her cup on top of the teabag.

“No. Max, we can’t. I’m not here as a service to you or the police department. I’m here because it’s my job and this is most definitely the last place I want to be, looking at pictures of kidnapped and dead children.” She reached for a handful of sugar sachets and picked up the two hot drinks.

“Okay, there’s no need to get upset, Theo -”

“I’ve already asked you not to call me that. There is nothing left here for me in Melrose and I don’t - not even for a _second_ \- regret leaving for college when I did.”

“You were fourteen,” he stated simply as if that meant something to the curly-haired brunette in front of him.

“And you were an asshole for making me think I was doing something wrong. Y’know, I’m never one to play the arrogance card or brag about my merits but I went to one of the top colleges this country had to offer and graduated _Summa_ out of a class of sixty. I have become well adjusted to being outnumbered and outgunned in this industry, the last thing I need is you trying to guilt-trip me into thinking I missed something.” Without saying anything else, she power-walked out of the break room and back to Reid, setting his coffee and the sugar sachets down on the table in front of him, being careful to avoid the sheets of paper they’d spread out.

“Everything alright?” he questioned as he sat up, ripping the sachets open and dumping all six of them into his drink. Teddy shook herself out of it and took a sip of her still-brewing tea. It was still too weak for her taste and the face she pulled must’ve said as much.

“M’ fine… Why wouldn’t I be?” Spencer shrugged and a pensive expression momentarily took over his face. Teddy couldn’t help but admire the way his brow furrowed and his bottom lip jutted out slightly.

“Oh, no reason. I just noticed that since we got here you’ve been quiet. Back in Quantico, you seemed somewhat reluctant to join us…” he explained with a glance to the boards in front of them.

“It’s not that deep, Reid. I guess you were kind of right about it feeling personal. I didn’t think this case would hit as close to home as it has. Wasn’t expecting it, is all,” she assured him with a slight nod. If Spencer thought otherwise he certainly didn’t say as much. The heavy silence that settled on them after that left a slight ring in Teddy’s ears.

The silence didn’t last long as they were rejoined by the rest of the team; Hotch and Rossi first, followed by Derek and Emily. Once completely regrouped with JJ, they all began to share what they’d learned. With Garcia on the line, the meeting was in full effect.

_“Well, it goes without saying these kids are some of the most privileged I’ve ever come across. Summer vacations to Cape Cod, private beach rentals in Rockport and all sorts of other big and fancy additions to the lifestyle.”_

“They’re not privately schooled though, which could mean something - they all attend Melrose Middle School,” Teddy interjected as she let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Parents say that everything was fine right up until they were taken and that there were no outstanding problems at home. Garcia can you -”

 _“Run a check to see if any of the parents overlap? Already on it, Sweet Cheeks,”_ Garcia assured Derek as they heard the clicking of keys in the background.

“Wilson, do you have any thoughts on our Unsub’s history?” Hotch turned to Teddy and she was almost taken by surprise until she remembered it was what she was there for. She let out a somewhat frustrated sigh before thumbing through the photographs of the first set of victims before replying.

“At the moment, with how little we have, all I can say is that he probably resents who he was as a child, his upbringing and the life that was imposed on him until he was old enough to leave,” she suggested and the team seemed to collectively nod in agreement.

“Someone local?”

“Almost certainly. This kind of town breeds a certain behaviour, image and reputation - especially if the family is the Old Money kind,” she answered Morgan’s question surprisingly quick. Teddy noticed a flicker of a frown on Spencer’s face, though it was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. As the rest of the team began to develop their ideas based on what she’d told them, teddy noticed something in the corner of one of the pictures on Reid’s side of the table.

The conversation slowed to a stop when they watched her reach across and pick up the photograph, keeping it upside down in her grasp.

“Doctor Wilson?” Rossi’s voice was muffled in her ears as she brought the photo closer to her face and then further away. She didn’t answer for a long few minutes, her brain trying to decipher what it was that she was seeing. Then it clicked.

“Tarot cards!” she exclaimed all too excitedly as she stood, rounding up the rest of the photographs and tacking them to the spare board before circling the cards with the nearest marker.

“Come again?”

“Look - in the back of the crime scene photos, there’s something tucked into the background - I can’t believe I didn’t notice this earlier, oh my God.”

“I think you just found our Unsub’s signature. We need to get a hold of all the evidence obtained from those crime scenes,” Emily stated before she headed out the door to make the request.

“You’re familiar with these cards?” Derek questioned, the scepticism leaking through ever so slightly.

“Yeah, I spent a lot of time at my grandma’s… She lived in Salem and we spent a lot of time together, she taught me how to read a Tarot deck. If this is his signature then we need to get those cards from evidence.”

“Why’s that?” Rossi interjected and it was Spencer who replied this time.

“A Tarot deck is usually comprised of seventy-eight cards, each with its imagery, symbolism and story. The Major Arcana contains twenty-two cards and they represent life’s Karmic and Spiritual lessons, whilst the Minor Arcana contains fifty-six cards and reflects the trials and tribulations of daily life.”

“Within the Minor Arcana cards, sixteen Tarot Court Cards represent sixteen different characteristics we choose to express at any given time. The Minor Arcana also includes forty numbered cards organised into four Suits, with ten cards each, representing various situations that we encounter day-to-day,” Teddy added on, trying to make it as simple to understand as possible.

“This Unsub will either know about the cards and their uses, the meanings behind the images and such or he’s just using them as a calling card to get our attention.”

“Either way, I think we should try and use that to our advantage,” Teddy stated as she stood back and looked at all the crime scene photos together.

“How?” Derek piped up, swinging in his chair slightly.

“Well, if he does understand the meaning of the cards, great. I can help work out what he’s trying to communicate through the cards. If not, you still have me on your team.” Emily returned with a box full of effects from the crime scenes and as she approached the table, Derek, Spencer and Teddy scrambled to clear some space for her to set them down.

Immediately they began searching through the bagged items and found seven cards. One for each of the seven victims they found. After clearing the rest of the table up and setting it to one side, Teddy laid the cards side-by-side to scrutinize against the crime scene photos.

“The Girls; Keri Lynn and Ashley Peters were found with cards from the suit of Cups,” Teddy observed aloud as they pinned each of the cards up next to their respective victims.

“Which means?” Hotch adjusted his stance and folded his arms across his chest.

“Well, the Cups are associated with water, they’re fluid and can be gentle like a river or forceful, like the ocean in a storm. In a normal deck of cards, the Cups are associated with the suit of Hearts. It’s a feminine suit, indicative of being overly emotional and driven by feelings not thoughts,” she explained and noticed that everyone else was taking notes of what she said.

“In this context, I think the Unsub knows what he’s doing with these cards - Cups are also associated with the Water signs; Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio. Penelope, can you check Keri and Ashley’s star signs?”

_“On it… Keri was a February Pisces and Ashley was a July Cancer.”_

“Alright, the five boys; Cole Adams, Eric Marple, Daniel Travis, Isaac Christian and Freddie Yardley. Their cards vary a little more than Keri and Ashley’s,” she began again and cast a worried look around the room at her colleagues.

“We’re all ears, Teddy,” Derek assured her as she cleared her throat and moved closer to the board, pointing to the first two boys.

“Cole and Eric both got the suit of Swords. The Swords mirror the quality of mind present in your thoughts, abilities and beliefs. They’re believed to be representative of the fine line balance between intellect and power. Negative connotations include but aren’t limited to; anger, a lack of compassion and harsh judgement of others,” she explained, her tongue pressed heavily against her teeth and made it hard to concentrate.

 _“Zodiac associations?”_ Garica questioned from the phone line.

“Air signs; Libra, Aquarius and Gemini,” Teddy rattled off almost instantly.

 _“This is beyond creepy… Cole is an October Libra and Eric is a June Gemini,”_ the blonde analyst informed them and it was becoming abundantly clear that the Unsub was far smarter than they originally guessed.

“My guess is, those two boys were schoolyard bullies,” Rossi suggested after a brief pause. All eyes turned to the silver-haired Italian for an explanation.

“Kids with this much privilege in a school that probably relies a lot on social status? You’re asking for a hierarchy and bullying to happen. Besides, Doctor Wilson said so, the negative traits of the suit of Swords are also characteristics of a bully.”

“Okay, what about the last three boys?” Emily lent back against the tabletop, not quite sitting on it, but she could if she pushed back a little further.

“Well, Daniel and Isaac were the oldest two victims and both had cards from the Suit of Wands present at their crime scenes,” she began and everyone leaned in to listen. **  
**

“Wands?”

“They’re indicative of energy, creativity and ambition. Commonly associated with Fire and the Fire signs; Leo, Sagittarius, Aries. Garcia?”

_“Daniel is a July Leo and Isaac is a December Sagittarius.”_

“Then, Freddie Yardley was left with the only card from the Major Arcana; Justice. If you look closely in the photo you can see the card was inverted. This typically represents unjust treatment, karmic injustice and victimisation. It has no association to the Zodiac calendar in the same way as the others.”

“So what makes Freddie Yardley so different?”

“If I had to guess? He was a victim at the hands of Cole and Eric. Whoever is doing this not only knows these kids well enough to have their birthdays memorised, but has seen them interact with one another and decided to take matters into their own hands,” she stated with a sombre tone.

“Garcia have you had any luck with the background checks on school staff?” They all hoped the answer would be yes but they were sorely disappointed.

_“Not yet, my Angel but I’ll let you know if anything suspicious pops up in the meantime.”_

“Alright, we’ve been at this for hours now, I say we call it a night and come back with fresh eyes, first thing in the morning,” Hotch suggested, though he was met with hesitation.

“With all due respect, Hotch, these kids are still on the killer’s schedule and now we have a new wave of information about them and the Unsub, their best chance at being found is if we stay here a while longer,” Emily argued on behalf of everyone else.

“I’ll stay late,” Teddy volunteered, surprising herself and everyone else.

“That’s not how this works, Wilson,” Hotch rebuffed but she shook her head, waves of brunette hair swaying with the motion.

“I can handle it. I’ll only stay until the station does a shift change - that’s three hours. That leaves me with plenty of time to get a decent night’s sleep,” she bartered as she reached for her - now almost cold - remnants of tea.

“I’ll stay behind and help out too, so she’s not alone.” Spencer quirked a smile at Teddy as Hotch caved with a sigh and let them be.

“Alright, we’ll meet back here in the morning.” The others said goodnight and followed Hotch out, leaving the two Doctors to their own devices.

“You didn’t have to do that, y’ know,” Teddy assured him as the door clicked shut behind the team. Spencer rocked back in his chair before he stood up and shrugged it off.

“I just figured you’d want someone to keep you company. And… It didn’t seem right to let you do this by yourself. I want to help you,” he admitted shyly as they set about reorganising the evidence, files and photographs. As they worked, Teddy found herself almost overheating in her chunky-knit sweater. Haphazardly she pulled it over her head and set it over the back of her chair. When she turned back around she was met with a staring Spencer.

“Something wrong?”

“Hm? Oh - no, I just couldn’t help but notice the necklace you’re wearing,” he fumbled with rose-flushed cheeks. Teddy cast a glance downwards and realised he was talking about the brushed stainless steel dog tag, engraved with an intricate pattern and the word “COURAGE” on the front and a Bible quote on the back.

“I thought you weren’t religious?” he probed out of curiosity. Teddy shook her head and sat down, resting her forearms against the table.

“No, I’m not. The quote on the back is from the book of Joshua, ‘Be strong, and very courageous'. The first referral I had after I graduated was a young girl - no more than fourteen. She’d been through something truly traumatic and she came to me wanting help, on how to deal with the aftermath, the PTSD, invasive thoughts, etcetera…” She stopped briefly and a reminiscent smile stretched across her petal-pink lips.

“It was tough, she struggled for a long time. But when she turned eighteen and was finally able to start standing on her own two feet, she came to me for one last session. She’d been brought up in the Church and her whole family was very religious. But she came to me on her last day and handed me the necklace - her mother had bought it for her when she’d started therapy.”

“She said something to you, didn’t she?” he guessed and she nodded wordlessly, still smiling. **  
**

“Yeah… She gave it to me, said thank you and said ‘my mother quoted this to me before I started seeing you and told me that courage far outweighs any physical strength someone can have.’ And I have lived by that ever since. It doesn’t take much to be smart, or fast or strong. But it takes a lot to be courageous.” They shared a quiet moment, full of shy smiles and awkward eye contact, but it didn’t feel wrong to Teddy.

“I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but that was something personal that you chose to share with me. You didn’t have to answer - you didn’t even have to say anything at all. But you did. Why?”

“Well, consider it a sign of trust, that I told you.” Spencer thought about it, the corner of his mouth quirked into a smile and he nodded.

“I can work with that,” he agreed before pushing himself to his feet, reaching for her cup, “Refill? We’ve got a long three hours ahead of us.”

“Only if you’re getting a refill too.”

“Of course, you have your tea black, no sugar, right?” A single nod was all he needed for confirmation before disappearing out the room, leaving Teddy with the mountain of work to sift through.


	4. The Truth In The Cards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: language(?), discussion/accusation of paedophilia, child death, mentions of a prior case involving children/CSA, interrogation, heated argument, mild misogyny/sexism

**_Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I will try again tomorrow’ - Mary Anne Radmacher_ **

After reaching one too many uncertainties, Spencer and Teddy called it a night and left as the shifts changed over. When they returned the following morning, happily caffeinated to make up for the slight lack of sleep, the team were surprised at the headway they’d made. Teddy didn’t think they’d achieved much in terms of revealing new information but she took the compliment anyway. **  
**

“Okay, let’s hit the ground running, the suspect list from Garcia came back this morning, she’s managed to narrow it down to fifteen people. Reid and Wilson, I want both of you to visit the most recent victim’s houses, profile their rooms, the parents, look for things that could help narrow down the suspect pool and any places you find along the way.” No sooner had Hotch given the duo their job for the morning were they out the door and on their way to the Richards family first.

“They seem to like pairing us together, you noticed that?” she mused as they navigated their way to the first house. A bemused hum left the tired-eyed Doctor behind the wheel. 

“Yeah. I mean, not to discredit the rest of the team, because they’re all amazing at what they do, but I think we just see things differently. You and I. Our perceptions of the world, the people we encounter and the job we do, we don’t see them the same as most other people,” he stated simply as he took a left turn. Teddy’s cheeks took on a rosy glow that she tried to hide.

“I guess that’s true. Anyway, you need to take the next right,” she instructed and then stopped herself. It had slipped out involuntarily. Before anything could be said, the GPS chirped with the same instructions.

“How did you know that?”

“I- I didn’t. Lucky guess?” He didn’t push it any further, which she was grateful for but that didn’t do anything to calm her still racing heart.

_It shouldn’t be that big a deal._

She tried to fight off the discomfort that overtook her as he followed the GPS instructions without further comment.

_But it is. You can’t risk letting your affiliations and biases affect the case._

That was something she couldn’t deny, no matter how she tried to look at it. Even if she didn’t tell anyone on the team about her attachment to Melrose, they’d just as soon find out from Penelope and that would look even worse on her for not sharing sooner. It’d make her look guilty of hiding something when she wasn’t. Not to her knowledge at least. The remainder of the drive, she stayed quiet.

The Richards family house was a sizeable unit. The lawn was well-tended and Teddy noticed the large garage doors, probably housing two cars. One for each parent. In-step, they approached the front porch and rang the doorbell. Moments later, a woman not too much older than the two doctors opened the door.

“Can I help you?”

“Mrs Richards? We’re with the FBI Behavioural Analysis Unit. I’m Doctor Reid and this is Doctor Wilson. We have some questions we need to ask you -”

“About Amy?” Teddy offered a morose nod in response. With a tight-lipped smile, she stepped aside and let them in.

“You two look a little young to be FBI,” she commented as she shut the door and stepped ahead of them. Teddy and Spencer shared a resigned look before either one of them replied.

“Thank you, Ma’am. We get that a lot. Would Doctor Reid be able to look at Amy’s room?” Teddy questioned as she removed her jacket and folded it over the back of one of the armchairs in the lounge.

“Of course - please, anything you need, just ask,” she assured them and Spencer disappeared with a nod to Teddy. Thankfully, Mister Richards appeared before Teddy could ask after him, making things a little easier to get in order. The three of them took seats in the lounge and Teddy took a deep breath, trying to figure out where to start.

“So, you’re a Doctor?” Mister Richards put an arm around his wife and held her close. It made Teddy’s chest ache.

“A Child Psychologist and Behaviour Specialist. Trust me, nothing is more important to me right now than getting Amy home safe. To do that, though, I need to ask you some questions,” she began, assuring them that there was nothing short of personal investment in finding their daughter. They seemed placated by that idea and relaxed a little.

“I’ll start simple; can you describe Amy to me? Personality-wise?” There was a heavy beat that followed before they both sat forward to speak.

“She was - is - a kind girl. Amy was the peacekeeper of their friendship group -”

“Peacekeeper?”

“Well, you know how girls that age can be. Amy’s just a very sweet girl, she wanted to make others happy and she’d always try and keep everyone included,” Mrs Richards explained before reaching for a tissue off the coffee table to blow her nose.

“She sounds lovely. Did she participate in any sports? Extra-curricular activities or hobbies outside of school?” They both nodded and Mr Richards spoke up this time.

“They used to have homework sleepovers. Amy’s a part of the gymnastics team and she only recently decided she wanted to join the science clubs they run after school.” Teddy was impressed, to say the least.

“They?”

“Oh, her friends, they took turns hosting each weekend, they’d help each other out, order pizza or something like that and spend the weekend together,” Mrs Richards elaborated and Teddy took notes.

“Would it be possible to get numbers and addresses for the parents of these friends?”

“Certainly, just a moment.” Mrs Richards stood up and left the room, no doubt going in search of some kind of address book or her phone.

“Doctor Wilson, I want you to look me in the eyes and be honest with me. Is my daughter going to be okay?” Mr Richards’ question took her by surprise but she must’ve hidden it well enough.

“Sir, I wish I could say with absolute certainty we’ll bring her back unharmed. However, I’m going to promise you right here, right now that we are going to try everything we can to get her back alive. I don’t make promises often, Mister Richards but when I do, I keep them.”

“That’s good enough for me.” They couldn’t say any more on the matter because Mrs Richards returned with a piece of paper in her hand, numbers and addresses written down in a list.

“These are the girls she normally hangs out with, I hope this is helpful.”

“In a case like this, Mrs Richards, everything helps,” Teddy assured her as Reid reappeared in the doorway.

“I just have on more question for you both. It’s a little more personal and you may not be able to answer straight away but I need you to think about it as hard as you can. Is there anyone yourselves may have been in contact with in the past that would want to hurt Amy?”

“No, that’s ridiculous -” Mr Richards began to object when Spencer chimed in.

“It’d be incredibly helpful. Anyone at all you might have known or even encountered briefly - in any capacity - that you might have disagreed with. Someone who’d have reason to be angry with you,” he explained and teddy rose to her feet, gathering her jacket. She could sense already this would be where it ended. Neither one of them could come up with any answers, so Teddy handed over her card with a reassuring nod.

“If you do think of anyone, drop me a line. Thank you both for your time.” Teddy and Spencer shook the bereaved couple’s hands before making their exit. In the brisk late-November air, their hot breaths clouded around their faces. Once they were sat back down in the car, they set off to Jason Green’s family. Upon inspecting her appearance in the drop-down mirror on the back of the visor, Teddy noticed a slight rosy flush across her cheeks and nose, no doubt because of the cold. With a glance to her left, she noted Spencer had the same colour splashed haphazardly across his face. 

It seemed wrong and out of place, but Teddy couldn’t help but admire how draw-able Spencer’s face was. She lamented the fact she couldn’t bring her watercolours with her. He had the right complexion for watercolours and she had the perfect pink shade to dust across his cheeks and the tip of his nose. Teddy was removed from her train of thought when he pulled up at a stop sign.

“So, did you find anything in Amy’s room?” Teddy questioned whilst trying to avoid staring at him for too long. Her cheeks were burnished a deeper crimson hue from sheer embarrassment as she picked at the corner of her thumbnail.

“Oh, uh, nothing. No red flags at all. Participation trophies, photographs with her friends all over her walls. She was comfortable in her room and I didn’t see anything to suggest abuse of any kind,” he explained with a crestfallen frown.

“Alright, well, that could be a good thing, right? Happy homelife means we can rule out a family member or family friend?”

“I suppose so. Once we get to Jason Green’s house we should touch base with Hotch and the others,” Spencer suggested as they continued on their way. The Green’s house was almost identical to the Richards’. Though that should’ve been obvious to Teddy, the entire town of Melrose was just one big melting pot of money and privilege. She could attest to that much.

The Green’s story was much the same as the Richards’, no one particularly stood out with the means and motive to hurt Jason. Just like Amy. After about an hour and a half of talking to Jason’s parents, they offered their cards to the parents and moved on to family number three. The Marks family. By this point, both Teddy and Spencer were anticipating their answers to be the same as the others. Which was both helpful and _not_. As they moved up the Marks’ driveway, Teddy’s mind was spinning a mile a minute to try and find a loose thread she could pull. She had no such luck.

“I certainly can’t say I knew of anyone that would want to hurt our Calum. He’s a sweet boy and he means well -” Ms Marks was interrupted by Teddy’s phone vibrating in her pocket. With an apologetic smile, she went in search of Reid and answered the call, putting the caller on speakerphone.

“Go for Wilson and Reid.”

 _“Its Prentiss. Guys, we think we have a suspect in custody right now,”_ their raven-haired colleague greeted and they shared a confused look before Teddy responded.

“What? Who is it?”

 _“Some guy named Harry Bachman. Come back to the station and we’ll fill you in,”_ she suggested and they mutually agreed, curious as to how they’d gotten someone so fast.

“Alright, be with you in fifteen.” With that, they offered their cards once again before saying their goodbyes. Inside the SUV, the windows began to steam up as they drove away, so Teddy reached out to turn the heat up. With the hot air blasting and the radio station playing early Christmas music quietly, they began their return to the police station.

“I can’t see how they managed to pin someone so fast. We’ve been here almost two days and the last victim only just disappeared,” Teddy voiced her thoughts aloud as Spencer drove. He made a noise of agreement though she could tell he was going to inject his thoughts in a matter of seconds.

“Perhaps Garcia found something we missed? We didn’t have a whole lot of information to start with and JJ only released what we theorised about in the boardroom last night.”

“Well, let’s just hope this is our guy…” The rest of the ride was a comfortable silence until they pulled up outside the station and saw a few journalists and reporters lingering at the door.

“Vultures,” Teddy mumbled under her breath as they climbed out and elbowed their way through into the warmth of the building. Prentiss was there to walk them through to the interrogation room and began explaining as they walked.

“Bachman was a janitor at Melrose Middle School until last year when a slew of students came forward to complain about him -”

“What kind of complaints?” Teddy stiffened at the thought of what Emily was going to say next.

“You name it and it was complained about; his lack of hygiene, his inappropriate investment in the students and the cherry on the cake?”

“Oh, God…”

“Spying on the girl’s locker rooms when he should’ve been cleaning the halls.” Sick to her stomach, Teddy’s lip curled in a grimace.

“Great. How was he reported?”

“One of the older students was loitering in the halls and spotted him perving through the windows.”

“So, could he have been responsible for the kidnappings and murders in Dorchester?” Spencer chimed in as they approached the observation room. Emily turned to them both with a shrug and weary expression.

“Perhaps - the cleaning staff at both Melrose Middle and high school were contracted through an external company. He could’ve worked in Dorchester too.”

“Who’s going in there to talk to him?” Teddy gestured to the unkempt man sitting on the opposite side of the one-way mirror.

“Morgan first. He’s going to try and open him up a little, show him the pictures of the kids and look for changes in behaviour -”

“We were hoping you might step in after that, Doc,” Rossi interjected as he approached them.

“Me? Why?” Teddy wasn’t sure she would like the answer but the questions came out before she could stop them.

“Because you spotted the Tarot cards. You know more about them than any of us -”

“But -”

“Jury’s out on this one, Doc. You go in there, talk about the cards, see what he knows, watch how he reacts to you bringing them out. They’re the key to finding out if he did this or not.”

“Even if I wanted to, I don’t have a deck of cards with me,” she stated with an apologetic look. Not that she was sorry about it, she didn’t want anything to do with interrogating the scumbag. Especially not after what happened in Wyoming.

“I thought you’d say that, and as luck would have it, we got our hands on one.” As he finished speaking, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a slightly worse-for-wear cardboard box, bound together with an elastic band. Teddy could tell they were, in fact, Tarot cards.

“Lucky me,” she mused sarcastically as she took the cards from Rossi with a tight-lipped smile. Without thinking about it too much, she opened the box and tipped the cards out into her hands. They were a little worn around the edges from constant handling but other than that, she admired the illustrations, the colours used. They were a handmade deck and she certainly appreciated the craftsmanship.

“Rossi has a point. You know the cards better than any of us and if Bachman is our Unsub then he’ll react to seeing them. He’ll know their significance, just like you did yesterday.” Spencer’s words took her by surprise but she was completely flattered.

“Thanks. Glad you think so,” she mused awkwardly as she shuffled the cards. It brought back countless memories of her Grandma’s house, sitting in the lounge in front of the fire and practising readings on one another.

“I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to get a Tarot reading,” Spencer pondered and Teddy smiled, huffing out half a laugh.

“I have a set of cards at my place. I could show you sometime. It’s been a while though, so I might be a little rusty,” she joked and they laughed. It was a much needed moment of levity during such a heavy case. Almost an hour passed, with Derek still trying to get Bachman to “open up” and having little success. Eventually, Rossi put a hand on her shoulder.

“Doc, it’s your turn.” With a heavy sigh, she left the observation room as Derek came out of the interrogation room. As they passed each other, they exchanged a look of acknowledgement before they’d swapped places. Harry Bachman was Teddy’s least favourite kind of person, she could tell just from sitting down across from him.

“Let me guess, you’re the coffee girl. I’ll take an Americano with three sugars, sweetheart.” Teddy rolled her eyes and straightened up, keeping the box of cards in her lap, out of sight.

“Hmm, no,” she deadpanned, her gaze hardened and remained unwavering as she kept eye contact with the greasy man across from her.

“No you’re not the coffee girl or no you’re not taking my order?”

“Mister Bachman, I’m Doctor Wilson, with the FBI. I’ll cut to the chase and get this out of the way; my colleague, Agent Morgan might have been sparing with his approach to this interrogation. But let me assure you I won’t be doing the same,” Teddy began, remaining neutral and expressionless.

“Oh, _Doctor_ , that tough guy act doesn’t suit you,” he chided and Teddy wanted to palm-strike his nose with everything she had. But she refrained.

“Just to be clear, the last man that tried to act bigger than he was got his wrist broken in three places. By me. Mister Bachman your cooperation in this interrogation would be helpful but isn’t mandatory. However it’d be wise of you to cooperate all the same,” she warned before putting the box of Tarot cards on the table.

“What are those? Do you want to play a game? Blackjack? Strip poker?” Without answering, Teddy shook the cards out into her palm and shuffled them around slightly before turning a few over.

“They’re not playing cards, Mister Bachman. Do you know what they are?”

“Should I?” His attitude was suffocating and Teddy found it to be somewhat contagious.

“Mister Bachman -”

“Call me Harry,” he interrupted with a smug grin. Teddy remained stony-faced.

“ _Mister_ _Bachman_ , is it true you work at Melrose Middle school?” He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“I used to.”

“Oh, _used_ to? As in, past participle?”

“Yeah, what is this AP Literature?” A sliver of satisfaction threatened to curl the corner of her mouth into a smile at his reaction. She was finally starting to rile him up.

“Well, how did that happen? What made them let you go?”

“Some snot-nosed kid thought he saw something.”

“And did he?”

“No! That’s absurd, I never perved on the girl’s locker rooms like that!” There was a brief pause before Teddy sat up and cleared her throat.

“I never mentioned the girl’s locker rooms.”

“What?”

“Mist Bachman, the reason you lost your job was that you’re a paedophile -”

“No!”

“ _Yeah_ , you are. You took a personal shine to a handful of the students and made them feel uncomfortable, powerless. You liked to see them in the locker rooms, getting changed and completely unaware that you were spying on them through the windows outside.” The older man’s face turned beet red and he didn’t say anything for a few long minutes.

“No, I never -”

“Except you did and that cost you your job. Tell me, _Harry_ , how did that make you feel?”

“This is stupid, you’re talking shit and I won’t stand for it. This is defamation of character!” He stood up as he raised his voice and teddy stood up too, matching his demeanour.

“I suggest you choose your next move wisely Mister Bachman. I’ve broken a man’s wrist once and I’ll happily do it again. Either you sit down and answer my questions and everything gets straightened out, or you try and intimidate me and I embarrass you in front of all my colleagues. The choice is yours.” A brief stare-down ensued and neither one of them budge for a long thirty-seven seconds. Eventually, he gave in and sat down with a heavy sigh.

“Alright, good. Now, what do you know about the kidnappings in Dorchester last year?” Teddy enquired as she sat down too, clasping her hands together on top of the table.

“A bunch of kids went missing, right? A few of them turned up a while later but they were dead.” His lack of detail and knowledge made it clear to Teddy that he wasn’t the Unsub. Or at least, not the Unsub they were looking for at the moment. She stood up and turned to the mirror behind her, shaking her head to signal he wasn’t the one. No matter how much she pressed him, she could only get so much from him, Teddy knew that.

 _Don’t twist facts to fit theories, twist theories to fit facts._ A voice chimed in her head and she resumed her seat. Before she could ask another question, Derek opened the door abruptly and gestured for Teddy to follow.

“We’ve got another body.”

 _Oh_ _no_.

They all drove out to the dumpsite and Teddy’s stomach was already churning in anticipation of what they might find. As Derek, Emily and Rossi began reworking the profile and theorising about the possibilities, Teddy was just focused on not throwing up. They rolled to a stop just outside Ell Pond and she could already see the crime scene tape and police officers milling around setting up perimeters and whatnot. **  
**

When they climbed out and the crisp November breeze hit Teddy, it seemed to ease the ache that had settled between her ribs. Just for a moment, at least. There was a forensics tent set up near the water and the voice in her head told her that was where they’d moved the body to. Palms slick with sweat inside her pockets, she walked in-step with Emily and Spencer to the tent, wet leaves squelching beneath her boots.

“Please tell me it’s not one of our recent victims,” Teddy pleaded as they entered the tent. The woman in a forensics jumpsuit, who was taking pictures, stopped when they entered and set the camera down.

“The water warped decomposition pretty bad and my guess is, there’s no physical evidence left at all. I’d hazard a guess and say he’s been in the water at least nine to ten months,” she explained and Teddy had to excuse herself. Reid followed after her and stood by her side wordlessly whilst they watched the CSU guys dragged the pond.

“Hey, Theo -” She reeled around to see Max stop dead in his tracks. The young officer’s face blanched when he realised what he’d done.

“What’s up?” Teddy spoke with a resigned sigh. Now was as good a time as any to come clean to Spencer.

“I’m sorry - it’s just slipped out and -”

“Max, _what’s_ _up_?” she repeated and he seemed to take the hint. Teddy could feel Spencer’s eyes staring at the back of her head as she looked at Max. He seemed panicked and on the verge of tears.

“There are some parents lined up just outside the perimeter, they’re asking questions that I can’t answer and I don’t know what to tell them because this is probably one of their kids but we can’t say whose yet -” Teddy took his hand to calm him down and distract him.

“Hey, Max, look at me,” she instructed and he met her eyes almost immediately, “Doctor Reid and I will handle them. Where are they?” He pointed over his shoulder in the direction he’d come from. Knowing their luck it was a good five-minute walk from where they were now.

“Alright, take it easy. Stick around down here and help out where you can.” Without giving Spencer the time to protest or question her, Teddy took off for the perimeter in a brisk walk. Once he caught up with her, Spencer started asking questions, As she suspected he would.

“Why did he call you Theo? And you called him Max - were you lying about not knowing this place? Are there other things you’re not telling us? Is that how you knew where to go earlier? You have some kind of personal affiliation with Melrose?”

“Please keep your voice down!” she hissed in reply as they approached the perimeter. She stopped for a moment, desperate to satiate his need for answers. Even if it was temporary.

“I’m from Melrose, okay?! I was born and raised in this town and I know Max because he was my neighbour. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you but I didn’t lie about anything -”

“Technically -”

“ _Technically_ no one asked so I didn’t feel the need to share. I know what it means. How it looks. Trust me. But I just want this case solved. I told you yesterday when we got this case, there is _nothing_ left for me here. Not anymore.” Teddy surprised herself when she managed to keep her voice level and her emotions somewhat under control.

“Teddy, this Unsub could be someone you know -”

“You think I don’t know that? And how it’ll look on me when I walk into the interrogation room and the Unsub already knows my name? I haven’t stopped thinking about it since we arrived and I didn’t have the guts to try and contest my presence here.”

“You have to tell Rossi and Hotch before this gets out of hand,” he stated with a simple shrug of his shoulders. Teddy momentarily looked away, embarrassment crept up the back of her neck.

“I know. And I will. Right after we deal with these parents. The job comes first.” She punctuated her words with a sharp turn and a brisk walk away from him. The tension was palpable between them from that moment on. It lingered around them like a dense cloud, fit to burst with lightning, thunder and rain.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain calm. I’m aware that you’re all in need of answers and I wish I was in a position to give them to you. Unfortunately, as of this moment, we’re still trying to get answers for ourselves -”

“It’s a straight forward question, lady, is that one of our kids or not?!” An impatient older man questioned abruptly. Teddy remained courteous but she hated being interrupted like that.

“Sir, as I was saying, my colleague and I aren’t sure yet. But the team is working on it as we speak. However, until then, I can neither confirm nor deny that this John- or Jane-Doe is anyone’s child,” she informed them and that seemed to partially appease them, though it did nothing to send them on their way.

When they were eventually relieved by two police officers, it seemed the crowds were considering leaving. The walk back to the forensics tent was awkward, to say the least. Though Teddy stayed true to her word and approached their unit chief with a lump in her throat.

“Hotch, sir, can I have a moment, outside, please?” There was no going back. She came clean to Hotch and when she was done, Teddy waited in anticipation for the scolding she was sure would follow.

“I know.”

“What?” His words took her by surprise and her confusion was only furthered when he offered a (rather uncharacteristically) gentle smile.

“I had to read through your file before you arrived. Everything’s in there.”

“Everything?” A wordless nod was all she received in reply before he excused himself and stepped back into the Medical Examiner’s tent.

**-/-/-**

Several tiring hours later the team were back in their motel rooms, getting ready to turn in for the night. All of them except for Teddy. She was sat on her bed, sleepwear and nighttime routine temporarily forgotten about, the case files and photos were strewn out around her. It was late and getting later still. Truthfully she knew getting a good night’s sleep was the best plan of action so she was refreshed for the next day. But something was sitting right. **  
**

The suspect list had been whittled down to five names, courtesy of Garcia. Harry Bachman had been eliminated from the list following the unsuccessful interrogation earlier that day. Something nagged at her from the back of her brain. It was insistent and starting to grate on her nerves.

“What am I missing?” she questioned aloud as she thumbed through the papers and pictures. With a listless sigh, she stood up and began pacing, holding loose papers in one hand, a mug of tea in the other. The narrowed suspect list stared back up at her as she wore tracks into the matted carpet.

 _James_ _Patterson_. The name jumped out at her and she almost dropped her tea when the reason why dawned on her sleep-deprived brain.

“Holy shit.” She put the list down and frantically began getting ready again; tugging her jacket on harshly before forcing her feet into the partially untied boots she’d discarded by the door. Once she’d gathered Patterson’s file and her satchel she hurried to Spencer’s room.

He answered the door in a sleep-addled haze, pouting at the intrusion of the corridor lights. Spencer’s hair was a mess, quite frankly but it appeared as though he made some effort of taming it before he opened the door.

“Teddy?”

“I know who it is,” she declared before squeezing past him and pulling the file from her bag.

“What?”

“The Unsub! I know who he is,” she reiterated and it seemed to wake him up.

“Well?” Spencer questioned impatiently as she tied her hair up and began pacing in nervous circles.

“You’re not gonna like it,” she admitted before handing him the manila file.

“Enlighten me,” he challenged sarcastically as he put on a pair of reading glasses.

“James Patterson?”

“You were right, Reid, I know him - or at least, I used to,” Teddy confessed as she wrung her hands together. There was a heavy pause. Things hadn’t quite been the same since their minor spat at Ell Pond.

“Well, we should tell Hotch or Rossi -”

“No.”

“Sorry, _what_?” Spencer seemed genuinely surprised at her resistance and Teddy knew that it was probably going to end in another dispute.

“I know Patterson and he probably hasn’t caught wind of the fact he was even on the list. I have to be on the scene first -”

“But there are protocols -”

“Spencer, I have been here almost a month and I can count on both hands how many times I’ve seen you throw protocol out of the window for a case! Trust me -”

“The last time you asked me to trust you, you were hiding the truth. Are you hiding something now?”

“No - Y’know what, I don’t even know why I bothered to come in here and tell you about Patterson. I need it this way. Call Hotch or Rossi or whoever after I leave, that’s fine but I have to get to him first and by myself,” Teddy insisted, trying to keep her voice down to avoid rousing suspicion from the rooms either side of them.

“Teddy that’s not safe, you know it isn’t. You’re what? Going to just walk up to his house and ask to come inside? Do you even have a gun?” The sarcasm dripped from his words like hot venom and Teddy didn’t appreciate it in the slightest.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. Not that I need it, I can take care of myself -”

“I never said you couldn’t, I said it was dangerous -”

“ _We see things differently. You and I_ ,” she quoted him with a sharp edge to her voice, making Spencer stop in his tracks.

“Did you just quote me to me?”

“Yeah, I did. Because it’s true, Spencer. You and I, our brains are wired just a little bit differently than everyone else’s and that gives us an advantage. I know Patterson is the Unsub and seeing me is the last thing he’ll expect.”

“I’d feel better if we got the others -”

“I have a duty of care to these kids, Spencer! I can’t wait until the morning and neither can they. I feel personally responsible for getting these kids home safe and in my gut, I know this is the right choice to make,” Teddy defended, edging closer to the door.

“I can’t let you walk out that door by yourself.”

“I was never asking for permission. Just letting you know what I was planning to do. Give me a twenty-minute headstart and then gather the team. I’ll meet you at Patterson’s place.” Before he could object or follow after her she’d backed out of the room and was rushing to the parking lot, grateful that she was the last one to drive after they’d finished dealing with the body in the pond.

**-/-/-**

Almost two hours later, nearing on midnight, Teddy was sat across from one James Patterson in the interrogation room at the police station. JJ was the only one who’d accompanied her back to the station whilst the others tore his place apart looking for the missing children.

“Y’ know, Theodora, if I’d have known you were a cop, I would’ve gotten in trouble sooner,” he commented from his chair across from her. Teddy only offered a tight-lipped smile in response.

“I’m not a cop, I’m on loan to the FBI. And it’s _Doctor_ Wilson if you don’t mind,” she corrected him with her hands laced together on the tabletop. The Tarot deck she’d used earlier was in her lap, waiting.

“I do mind, just a little.”

“Well, I’m going to insist you address me as such all the same.” Teddy flipped open the file in front of her and slid it across to him. He took a long look at the pictures and skimmed the writing.

“Pats, did you do this?”

“Straight to the point. Nothing’s changed then,” he mused with a smug grin that made her skin crawl.

“Either you did or you didn’t. I have a pretty good idea as to what you’re going to say, so I’ll save you the trouble. These kids did nothing wrong. They had nothing to do with you or whatever sick fantasy you were acting out. So why choose them?” He let out a low chuckle before leaning forward, prompting Teddy to sit back, maintaining the distance between them.

“You should know, _Doc_. You were like them once.”

“Was I? In what way?” He scoffed and rolled his eyes, muttered something under his breath before he spoke up again.

“Rich, _privileged_ , above it all. Nothing was ever enough for you, was it?”

“Well, this isn’t about me right now. How about we discuss my childhood some other time?”

“Your bedside manner is appalling,” he stated with a sinister lilt in his voice. He was trying to bait her. Provoke her into lashing out. Teddy saw right through it. Instead of replying, she picked up the box of Tarot Cards and shook them out into her palm.

“What, you suddenly want to play card games? Gonna show me a magic trick?”

“No. These are Tarot Cards, James. You left them as breadcrumbs with the bodies, right? Each child having a card matched to their personality.” He stiffened slightly and she knew she’d hit the right vein.

“Parlour tricks? Does the FBI condone subpar fairground games in their interrogations now?”

“It’s so much more than that. You know it is. I’m going to read your cards and find out everything I need to know.”

“Be my guest,” he encouraged with a shrug, holding up his cuffed hands as if to say that he wasn’t going anywhere. Teddy shuffled the cards and cut the deck a few times before holding the whole deck in one hand, leaving the other hand free to draw cards. With a glance at the one-way mirror to their right, she turned the first card over.

“Temperance. Inverted. Indicative of volatility. A man who’s recently taken comfort in drinking. But from what does he seek solace? What does he not wish to see?”

“A smartass prep doing nothing but embarrassing herself?” he sneered in response to her, pointedly, rhetorical question. Teddy ignored him and drew another card and set it down next to the first.

“Oh, The Fool. Someone has strayed from the straight and narrow… They were involved in something without knowing,” she stated and tapped the card to punctuate her point.

“Not bad, but you have to make me believe it. I have to see it in your eyes.” With a final sigh of resignation, Teddy straightened up, ready to prove him wrong.

“I can do better,” she stated before flipping the third card, “The Two of Cups; a powerful bond, but between whom? A brother and sister?” Patterson’s expression hardened and his posture stiffened. She’d hit a nerve.

“What do you want?” His voice had dropped, low and gravelly, sending unwanted chills across her skin.

“The Devil,” she stated with finality as she flipped the final card and lay it across the first three.

“Why are we playing this game?”

“You have a sister, what’s her name?” Teddy ignored his questions, determined to get answers out of him. Patterson refused to speak after that, she was tempted to comment but withheld from doing so.

“Fine, we’ll go through the alphabet.” Teddy began to recite the letters of the alphabet, in a fast-paced succession, watching his face for even the slightest change in micro-expressions.

“- M - Oh, okay. Molly? Mandy? Milly? Macy? Melody? Maddison? Melanie? Maggie -” The latter most suggestion caused him to twitch ever so slightly and Teddy knew she had him.

“Oh… _Maggie_. Where is she, James?” Teddy returned the cards to their box and in her ear, JJ confirmed that she had Garcia on the phone already searching for an address.

“No.”

“No? No as in you won’t tell us? No as in you don’t know? Or no as in you’re not sure at all? Because I can keep going until I get a real answer out of you, Pats.”

“Those kids are as good as dead. I’m not telling you shit.” JJ informed the brunette Doctor that Garcia had an address and she was directing the team over there. It was Teddy’s turn to be smug.

“You didn’t have to. What you didn’t say told us plenty. Enjoy your time in Prison, Patterson.” She stood up and knocked on the door. Two officers came in and walked him out to a holding cell and let Teddy out so she could tag along with JJ. They’d finally cracked the case and on the drive over Teddy hoped against hope that the kids were alright.


	5. Ringing In My Head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: mild language (?), details of murder/violence, fatal gunshot wound, tension carrying, Teddy acts a little reckless, mild hypothermia symptoms, Reid’s awkwardness, this chapter is a bit jumpy

**_There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me - Jane Austen_ **

Saturday. Teddy’s favourite day of the week. Her loft apartment was filled with the soft golden light that filtered through uncovered windows. She rolled over and reached for her phone, scrolling through the notifications that had accumulated overnight, though it was nothing overly exciting. **  
**

When she eventually got out of bed and decided to make breakfast, she could hear the sounds of the street below. Traffic predominantly. With a mug of Raspberry tea and a couple of slices of toast, Teddy sat in the window nook that overlooked the streets and rooftops of Washington. Almost eight am and the sunrise was taking its sweet time. Her phone ringing broke the comfortable silence and she rolled her eyes to see it was her mother’s number.

“Hello?”

 _“Theodora, darling! I wasn’t expecting you to be up so early,”_ her mother’s voice greeted, making her wince and hold the phone away from her ear momentarily.

“Then why did you call?” she questioned in return, gathering her mug and plate before slipping down off the window nook and back into the kitchen.

_“Well, your father and I have an empty house this year - what with Joey being away at college and Caleb moving in with his girlfriend -”_

“What’s your point, Ma?” Her precariously trained accent slipped and she gave up trying to mask it. Teddy had missed the way words used to roll off her tongue, even if they were partially distorted by the Boston accent she’d inherited from her father.

 _“We want to invite you over for Thanksgiving, sweetheart. Joey and Caleb might stop by but it’s unlikely they’ll stay. We left your room alone,”_ Patricia Wilson reasoned with her daughter. It became apparent to Teddy that the invitation was sincere, which was a surprise.

“Even if I wanted to, which I’d rather not, I can’t.”

_“Oh, darling why not?”_

“Because I have this thing called a job, Ma. If you’d given me more notice I would’ve thought about it,” she explained with a sigh as she went about tidying up the things she’d used. The phone was balanced between her shoulder and her ear as she reorganised the counters and drawers.

_“Where are you working?”_

“With the FBI, I’m on loan to their Behavioural Analysis Unit.”

 _“Oh, wonderful, how many are in the unit?”_ Teddy moved through to her bedroom and proceeded to make her bed.

“Seven, including the Unit Chief.”

_“Well, including you that makes eight - the perfect number of guests. Invite them over too!”_

“Ma! You’re not listening - Thanksgiving is _next_ _week_. They all have families, partners or plans of their own. They’re not going to fly out to Boston for a weekend with people they don’t know,” Teddy reiterated as she took a seat on top of the now made bed.

 _“Can’t you at least ask?”_ Before she could reply, her phone beeped, signalling another incoming call.

“I’m sorry, Ma, someone else is calling. I’ll talk to you later.” She ended the call with her mom and Hotch’s number flashed up on the screen immediately afterwards.

“Go for Wilson?”

 _“JJ’s got us another case, how soon can you be in?”_ Teddy rolled her eyes and let out a quiet sigh. Of course her ‘quiet weekend in’ was going to be hoodwinked by another Unsub.

“I can be there in twenty, sir,” she assured him as she stood up and began pulling an outfit together from her wardrobe as well as fresh spare clothes, pyjamas and toiletries for her go-bag.

 _“We’ll be in the round-table room.”_ At that, Hotch hung up and Teddy became a whirlwind, moving around the loft at light-speed to get ready. By the time she left, she was sure she’d gotten everything in order.

When she made it to the round-table room and took her seat, everyone else was just getting comfortable. JJ was stood in front of the monitor which was filled with five pictures. Teddy unwrapped her scarf from around her neck and draped it over the back of her chair, interest already piqued.

“Alright, thanks for gathering at such short notice, this came in from Traverse City, Michigan last night. Over the last four and a half months, these five people have gone missing. All from different locations and it looks like there’s nothing in common between them,” JJ began before pressing a button on the remote and changing the screen to pictures of three waterlogged corpses in various states of decomposition.

“Then, last week three of the bodies were found in Lake Michigan. Michelle Greeley, Tom Harris and Ryan Hampton. The other two victims haven’t been found yet but they’re trying to drag as much of the lake as possible.”

“Okay, so the lake is his dumpsite. He’s comfortable in the knowledge that he won’t get caught whilst simultaneously getting off on the fact he’s marring a high-profile place,” Teddy suggested and there was a round of noises of agreement.

“What’s the M.O?” Emily questioned as they began thumbing through the files in front of them.

“It varies slightly from victim to victim but from what the Medical Examiner reported on all three was extensive violent trauma was the cause of death and there was additional damage done to the bodies postmortem.”

“Great, a psychotic overachiever. Any one of these things listed would’ve been enough to kill them within minutes. Why the overkill?” Derek chimed in as he gestured to the pictures on the monitor.

“Looks like a lot of pent up anger. If I had to, I’d hazard a guess and say he’s taken a lot of crap over the years and it’s finally manifesting itself. Probably been a victim of bullying and varying levels of abuse since he was a child,” the brunette Doctor offered. There was a round of agreement between them as they spoke for a few minutes more, to be sure they were all on the same page.

“Alright, grab your go-bags, wheels up in thirty.” Hotch eventually dismissed them and they all got up to leave. Teddy and Spencer were near the back of the group as they filed out of the room.

“You’re stressed about something,” he observed quietly as they approached their desks that were situated opposite each other.

“What gave you that idea?” Teddy hadn’t even realised she was being obvious.

“Well, during the briefing you didn’t move a whole lot. You’ve barely touched your tea since we sat down so I’d guess you have a headache, your accent slipped and you haven’t bothered correcting it - stop me if I’m wrong -” She knew he was trying to make light of it and she appreciated him for it.

“Alright, alright. But it’s not work-related, _ergo_ , you don’t need to worry about it,” she assured him with a smile as she tidied up her desk space and picked up her go-bag.

“Talking about it could help though. There was a study that suggested that sharing a problem with friends or people you trust was considered mutually beneficial. I could tell you the statistics?”

“That’s thoughtful of you, Spencer. But believe me, you don’t want to know about my family drama.” Spencer shrugged and shouldered his satchel before he stepped around the end of his desk. Once Teddy was sure she’d got everything she needed, she followed after him to the elevators.

“So, family drama?” he questioned, though the tone of his voice suggested he wasn’t trying to pry or be pushy. They spotted JJ and Derek heading over so they held the doors and waited.

“My Ma wants me to stay with them for Thanksgiving,” Teddy stated simply before pushing the button they needed once their two teammates had gotten inside with them.

“And you don’t want that?” he guessed as they descended.

“Ooh, do I smell family drama, Teddy Bear?” Derek teased with a poke to her side, lightening the mood some. Teddy laughed it off before rolling her eyes.

“I’d rather bury myself in a ten-foot snowdrift,” the brunette joked as the lift slowed to a stop and the doors slid open. The conversation was forgotten about as they moved on to the jet and got comfortable, rejoined with the rest of the team and ready to take off.

“Alright, let’s review victimology,” Hotch instructed as they took their seats and got comfortable. Teddy and Spencer were sat across from each other, it had become somewhat of a routine since she joined the team. With the file balanced across her lap, Teddy flicked through the photographs and paper trails that Garcia had provided in her initial search.

“Greeley was a realtor, lived in a nice neighbourhood, drove a good car and looked after herself. She was married with two sons,” Teddy observed, as she leafed through the notes.

“Harris was a car salesman, also fairly well-off in terms of socioeconomic status. It says here that he lived less than two miles from Michelle Greeley and - oh - he’s been divorced twice in the last fifteen years with a daughter that lives out of town.” Spencer’s contribution was noted and it was Emily that spoke up next to fill in the last gap.

“And Ryan Hampton was a general manager at the Hotel Indigo. The hotel itself is right on the bay and sees plenty of tourists and seasonal traffic.”

“So the Unsub could be a seasonal worker,” Rossi suggested as they took a moment to think about any possible links or ties that weren’t obvious to anyone that didn’t have their expertise.

“If he’s seasonal then we’ve lost him already. The Summer season in Michigan is only June through August,” Teddy stated as she continued to re-read the documents. When she looked up everyone was looking at her with a mix of intrigue and surprise.

“What? I spent a couple of Summers on the lake when I was in college instead of going home.” She shrugged and flipped the papers over. For the rest of the journey, the conversations were far and few between often murmured between teammates. Teddy stretched her legs out in front of her and tapped the toe of her boot against the side of Spencer’s Converse. The wily-haired Doctor looked up and smiled at Teddy before he held up the book he was reading.

“You’re _voluntarily_ reading Poe?” She didn’t mean to sound so incredulous but he didn’t seem to take it to heart. His smile only widened as he nodded and put the hardcover book down for a moment.

“Until recently I’d only read a small number of his works -”

“So what changed your mind?” Teddy sat back and folded her arms across her chest.

“Well, when you got mad at me for not reading anything Grimm on the way to Boston and you’d told me how much you loved Poe, I took it upon myself to indulge you in your side of the argument,” he explained simply with an endearing series of gestures. Teddy had become particularly fond of how the young genius talked with his hands.

“And? What’s your verdict?” Teddy watched as he thought about it, shrugged and broke into an even bigger grin.

“As far as Gothic Literature goes, he’s not so bad.”

“ _Reid_ -”

“I’m kidding! I actually enjoy his style of writing. Whilst the complexities and nuances of his narrative voice are comparable to other Gothic writers, I can see the appeal,” he admitted with a nod to the book by his side.

“I’ll take that as a win,” Teddy teased lightly as she reached for a bottle of water.

**-/-/-/-**

Michigan was _freezing_. Teddy had anticipated it being cold, but even this was a bit much. With all of them bundled up in coats, scarves, gloves and hats, they’d disembarked and made their way to the police station. The cars (thankfully) had decent heating, which meant Teddy could take off her bulky jacket, in favour of not overheating before they arrived.

“Chief Gardner, Agent Jareau, we spoke on the phone,” JJ introduced herself after they’d arrived and taken over two of the small precinct rooms.

“Unit Chief SSA Hotchner, these are SSAs Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, David Rossi and Doctors Reid and Wilson.” As a formality, they all shook hands, apart from Spencer, who politely declined. The police chief took the next twenty minutes to fill them in on what couldn’t be explained on paper. The final two victims were yet to be found and they’d just received news of a fresh kidnapping.

Whilst being briefed by the other officers and getting to work on a profile, Teddy grew frustrated with the constant buzzing of her phone. She’d checked once, saw it was her mother, and refused to pick it up again. Teddy opted to just focus on the task at hand, shoving her phone into a side pocket of her duffel bag.

“You got friends you’re not telling us about, Teddy Bear?” Derek questioned with a teasing smile from across the table after witnessing her bagging her phone. The brunette Doctor shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“My mother is relentless. Unfortunately.” The buff agent chuckled as he sifted through the photographs and files. Reid was busy pinning up papers to two of the corkboards on the wall, Emily and Hotch were out at the dumpsite where the last victims were found whilst Rossi and Derek tried to help her and Reid get a timeline in order.

Things had started to slow down towards the latter half of the afternoon so Teddy volunteered to do a coffee run for the others. Rossi, Derek and Reid gave Teddy their orders and she was on her way. Though it was barely three, the sky was already darkening and the wind nipped at her cheeks and nose, making them glow a rosy red. The walk into the main town wasn’t long and certainly not strenuous. However, the pleasant break from work was being nagged at by her phone’s incessant ringing. Frustrated, Teddy finally caved and answered the phone.

“Can I help you?”

 _“Theo, it’s Joey,”_ her younger brother greeted and an exasperated sigh left her mouth in a cloud of white air.

“Not that I don’t love you, but I’m in the middle of working a case so this better be worthwhile,” she stated firmly as she spotted the coffee shop one of the officers had recommended just down the street.

_“Mom said you weren’t answering your phone -”_

“Because I’m _working_.”

_“She really wants you to come home for Thanksgiving. I think it’d make her happy to have you there.”_

“Joey, when, in twenty years, have you ever seen Ma be happy?” the brunette questioned as she pushed the door open to the coffee shop and was greeted by the tell-tale aroma and sounds. Once she joined the line, she heard Joey’s reply.

_“That’s not the point -”_

“Then what is? Because I’d rather set myself on fire than spend a whole weekend with both our parents in the house. That’s not even considering the fact they’ll probably force me to join them at whatever functions they’ve been invited to and try to show me off like some trophy.”

 _“Do it for Pa,”_ he bargained and Teddy almost considered it. It was no secret that she’d always been closer to her father than her mother. They had made up a way of communicating and keeping secrets from the others.

“I hate it when you use Pa against me. I’ll think about it, is that a decent answer? Hm?” She briefly tipped the phone away to place her order with the barista behind the counter before resuming the conversation with her brother.

_“I’ll let her know. Where are you now, anyway?”_

“A coffee shop in Michigan,” Teddy replied whilst handing over the money, keeping the phone wedged between her shoulder and her ear.

 _“Bring me back a souvenir?”_ Teddy could hear the smile in his voice and that made her smile too. All truth be told, she missed her brothers. Joey most of all. It had been so long since they’d been under the same roof together as a family. Long enough to force a strange melancholic feeling on to Teddy as she was eventually handed the tray of drinks.

“Sure. Alright, don’t call me again unless it’s an emergency and tell Ma the same,” the windswept Doctor instructed firmly as she exited the shop and headed back to the police precinct. With a final farewell, Teddy hung up and continued on her way. There was an odd feeling in the air that she just couldn’t place. It made her slightly uneasy. She was quick to ignore that feeling as she finally stepped back into the warmth of the station and returned to the meeting room that they’d taken over.

Teddy handed out her colleagues drinks and took her own back to her seat. With her coat draped over her chair, she sat down, cradling the cup of fragrant tea. The three men hummed in appreciation as they took sips of their hot beverages, steam drifting from the rims of each cardboard cup.

“What have we got so far?” Teddy eventually questioned as she set her tea down and reshuffled the file in front of her.

“It’s possible the victims were taken from one of the other shore-side towns surrounding Lake Michigan and it’s unlikely they ever saw the attack coming. The Unsub is disorganised and sporadic - there’s no pattern to his timeline,” Rossi began explaining through sips of his extra-hot Americano.

“Which means he’s likely going to escalate and devolve, we just don’t know when. Since there’s no pattern to the kills - that we can see - we can assume that his cooling-off period is only as long as it takes for the itch to build again,” Derek continued and Teddy listened intently, making light annotations in the margins of the files.

“The victims are all fairly well-off and we can assume the Unsub lives near the water but outside of town. He’s come into contact with them somehow and that one interaction was enough to decide he was going to kill them. He may be suffering from some sort of mental illness which he could be seeking treatment for, or he’s unaware of what he’s doing so he can’t stop himself.” Whilst Spencer’s words registered in Teddy’s ears, she let her eyes flicker between the pictures of the found victims and the large map they’d been supplied with.

“What’s the likelihood that these victims crossed paths?”

“We can have Garcia cross-reference financial records,” Derek stated simply before dialling her number.

_“Speak and be recognised, Mortal.”_

“Baby Girl, we need you to cross-reference the three found victim’s financial records.”

 _“What am I looking for?”_ The sound of the blonde analyst typing a mile a minute brought a sense of familiarity to the room.

“Any places they might have visited around the same time -”

“Country clubs, Civic Centres, the opera house, anything that seems in-line with their lifestyle that they could have in common,” Teddy interjected, still fixated on the map.

 _“I’ll hit you back,”_ she assured them before hanging up, leaving the four of them to continue building the profile.

**-/-/-/-**

When it was pitch black outside and Teddy could see small snowflakes dancing sporadically outside the window, they’d been working non-stop. The police station was on the shore of Boardman Lake about ten minutes from the actual shore of Lake Michigan, so the change in weather was partly expected.

They were close to calling it a night. As Teddy glanced around the room she could tell they were all exhausted. JJ was resting her chin on her hand, Rossi had taken up a slightly more reclined position to read over things, Hotch occupied a chair that leant back against a wall, Emily and Derek were desperately trying to keep each other awake by talking about the case in lulled voices.

And then there was Spencer, sat off to her left. His eyes kept drooping closed and he’d wipe at them furiously to try and prolong the inevitable. Teddy was beginning to struggle too. The longer she stared at the files and photographs, the less they seemed real. All she’d done for the past three hours was stare at the documents and grizzly crime scene snapshots. Her head had become fuzzy and her concentration was waning.

“We haven’t made progress in over an hour, let’s call it a night. Everyone, head back to the hotel and get some sleep we’ll come back with fresh eyes tomorrow,” Hotch finally instructed and they all let out sighs of relief. In unison, the team stood up, stretched out their weary limbs and grabbed their jackets and bags.

“I can barely keep my eyes open,” Teddy stated following a stifled yawn into her sleeve. She walked out alongside Spencer, who hummed in agreement.

“Y’ know it was revealed that staying awake for seventeen hours is the equivalent of having a Blood Alcohol Content level of point-zero-five. Twenty-one hours is almost the same as a BAC of point-zero-eight and twenty-four hours of no sleep is the same as having a BAC of point-one,” the spindly Doctor informed her as they broke into the fresh night air and piled into the SUVs.

“I will never not be impressed by the things you tell me,” Teddy admitted as they climbed in and belted up. The drive to the hotel was short but traffic dragged it out a little. As they navigated the lightly snow-dusted streets, Teddy’s phone began ringing again. She checked who was calling and was less than pleased to see it was her mother. Again. She accepted the call, begrudgingly.

“Ma, please, I thought Joey told you I’m working?” Teddy tried to keep her voice down but it was obvious that Spencer, Emily and Derek were listening to the conversation, no matter how hard they pretended not to.

_“I just wanted to talk to you before your father and I went to bed. Joey said you’re in Michigan right now, is that true?”_

“Yes, Ma, we’re in Michigan.”

 _“Wonderful, is your team there?”_ Teddy took a cautionary glance around the car and bit back a giggle at the sight of Spencer asleep with his head pressed against the window, mouth slightly agape.

“Yeah. We’re just on our way to the hotel for the night. It’s been a long day.” Teddy noticed some smooth jazz station playing on the radio and it made her lips curl into an almost-smile.

_“Has anything exciting happened?”_

“I’m not allowed to officially talk about it whilst it’s still an ongoing investigation, Ma. We’ve been working non-stop since we got here though, it’ll be nice to get some rest before picking it up again in the morning,” she admitted quietly and she heard her mother make a noise of agreement.

 _“- Is that Theodora on the phone? Patty put me on the phone -”_ the unmistakable sound of her father’s voice interrupted and the almost-smile broke free.

 _“It’s late, Fred she was just saying they’re about to turn in for the night -”_ her mother tried to reason with him but, as expected, he was having none of it.

 _“Patricia Wilson hand me that phone right now I want to speak to Teddy.”_ An annoyed huff followed and Teddy assumed the phone was handed over.

_“Teddy, darling are you there?”_

“Yeah, I’m here Pa,” she assured him gently, being careful not to make too much noise.

_“Good. How are you, hon?”_

“I’ve been okay. Just busy is all. How are you?” Teddy relaxed into the upholstered seat as her father went on a five-minute mini-rant about the week he’d been having before he stopped himself.

_“We miss you, Teddy. Even if your mother doesn’t tell you, we do. Now, I’m sure you’ve got another busy day ahead of you tomorrow so goodnight, sleep tight.”_

“Alright, goodnight. And Pa?”

_“Yes, sweetheart?”_

“I miss you too.” Teddy hung up and let out a heavy sigh. Moments later they pulled up at the hotel and she reached across to nudge Spencer. He woke up with a grumble and a yawn, squinting at her comedically as his eyes adjusted.

“Wakey, wakey, Sleeping Beauty. We’ve arrived.”

**-/-/-/-**

It was a fitful night of sleep for Teddy, but come the next morning she felt refreshed and ready to tackle the case. Unfortunately, the water pressure in her shower hadn’t been great, but other than that she was feeling confident that they’d make good progress today.

“Alright, I hope you guys got a good night’s sleep because we have a lot of ground to cover,” Hotch greeted them when they’d all taken their seats and began drinking their morning coffees, with exception of Teddy, who had always been a tea-drinker.

“It’s a possibility the Unsub may have already killed and dumped the other two victims. This means that today, I want Morgan, Reid and Wilson taking point on visiting the places the victims were last seen, Rossi and Prentiss, visit the ME and got Garcia to cross-reference anything you find. I’ll be here with JJ talking to the first three victim’s families.” On his cue, they all dispersed and began the jobs they’d been assigned.

“Alright so Michelle Greeley was snatched outside Sleder’s Family Tavern during a dinner out with her family, Tom Harris was leaving Slabtown Burgers and Ryan Hampton had just finished a taste-testing party at the Seven Monks Taproom,” Teddy reminded them as they climbed back into the SUV they’d arrived in.

“Those places are all within five minutes of each other - what about the two we haven’t found yet?” Spencer questioned as Derek started the car and pulled away from the police station.

“Uh - Rachel Moore was last seen at the City Opera House and Bianca Wiley was at Clinch Park the day she went missing.”

“Both the Opera House and Taproom are on the other side of the Boardman River,” Spencer began out loud, “The other three were all relatively close together. What aren’t we seeing?”

“Well, we assumed they were all blitz attacks because of the scattered locations. But the more we look at these victims and locations, the more I feel like these were all intentional and premeditated,” Teddy admitted as the streets outside rolled by in a frosty greyish blur.

“You think he knew them?”

“Or at least interacted with them enough to know their schedule fairly well. These people were just going about their day, their usual routines. This Unsub had to have some kind of insight into their lives to know where they were going to be at specific times.”

“So a PA, perhaps?” Derek suggested as they finally pulled up at the curb in front of the Opera House.

“It’s a possibility,” Teddy agreed as they climbed out and headed inside.

**-/-/-/-**

The locations the victims had last been seen at turned up little to no new evidence and that left the three of them feeling frustrated. Teddy, Derek and Spencer returned to the police station hours later with disappointing news for their teammates.

 _“Fortunately I am mighty and have found a thread for you to pull,”_ Garcia had assured them when they’d all reunited.

“Enlighten us, Garcia.”

 _“Bennett Jackson of North Oak Street has a list of priors as long as the Nile. Thankfully, he’s been surprisingly easy to chase around and I’ve sent all the information I can get my digital hands on to your handhelds.”_ Before any of them could act on the information they’d been given, a new officer poked his head into the room and cleared his throat.

“We’ve just had a call in, Kathy Richards was meant to show up to work two hours ago.”

_“It checks out, Bennett didn’t clock in after his lunch break. According to traffic monitoring, his car is headed North to Old Mission.”_

“Thank you, Garcia.” Hotch hung up and they all seemed to move at lightspeed. Frantic, they all grabbed their coats and scarves. Teddy’s stomach was somersaulting as they sped off towards Old Mission. As they travelled, lights and sirens going ten to the dozen, vests and earpieces were handed out ready for when they arrived. The plan was to get to the waterfront and fan out to find Jackson before he killed Kathy.

Teddy was on edge and it was clear that Spencer was the same, fidgetting with the sleeve of his jacket and the collar of his shirt as they raced through the city. Teddy wanted to say something. To put a hand on his shoulder and offer some kind of reassurance that things would be okay. But he’d been doing this job far longer than she had and it felt superficial to do such a thing.

“Guys, Garcia just sent us more information on Jackson,” Emily alerted them to their phones. They all immediately read through what they’d been sent and what was revealed to them put the final pieces in place. Everything about Jackson and his motives and his past became abundantly clear. In part, Teddy was overcome with guilt, for not spotting the signs sooner.

“I can’t believe I didn’t pick that up -”

“No, don’t beat yourself up about it, Teddy you couldn’t have known,” Derek attempted to ease her guilt, but it didn’t do much.

“He was beaten as a child, had life-threatening injuries that needed ER treatment and bounced between foster homes, I should’ve been able to tie that to the profile.”

The car skidded to a harsh stop on the loose gravel outside the Bill Carls Nature Reserve and they all took off, running towards the shore. Their breaths clouded their faces in white puffs and as the sun finally started to sink below the horizon, they began frantically patrolling the shoreline looking for Bennett and Kathy. Thankfully, Garcia had called ahead and alerted Park Rangers to what was going to happen.

“Over here! Two-hundred yards to your left!” a ranger informed them and the scattered team headed towards the noise. Sure enough, Bennett was stood at the end of a jetty, gun held to Kathy’s temple, a dangerous light in his eyes.

“Bennett Jackson! This is the FBI. Put the gun down and let Kathy go!” Hotch barked as they approached, guns raised and vests firmly in place. Teddy adjusted her grip on her gun as her palms grew clammy. The cold evening air forced a sweat to break out across her forehead. Altogether, they moved in a step at a time, being careful not to make any sudden moves or noises. Rossi and Hotch were at the front of the group, followed by Derek and Teddy, then JJ, Prentiss and Spencer at the back of the group.

“That’s not gonna happen - she deserves to die!” He shouted back, which made Kathy flinch. Teddy took a few slow breaths before stepping forward and around her colleagues, her hands held up in surrender.

“Hotch, Rossi, cover me,” she instructed quietly as she passed the two older men. They attempted to protest but knew they couldn’t risk startling Jackson.

“We don’t want to hurt you, Bennett -”

“Yes! They do!” He gestured wildly to the rest of her team. Carefully, she holstered her weapon and held her hands up again.

“But I don’t, Bennett. I promise.” He pointed the gun at her and Teddy could see Kathy relax, despite still being held at gunpoint.

“Don’t move - not another step,” he demanded and Teddy swallowed thickly. She could feel the eyes of her teammates burning into the back of her head as she stopped. Teddy had made it just shy of eight foot from Bennett and Kathy, she considered that progress.

“I can stay right here, Bennett but you need to let Kathy go for me, alright? She doesn’t need to be involved in this,” the cautious Doctor started to bargain.

“You don’t understand! No one understands!” Bennett yelled and Teddy took half a step backwards. **  
**

“Then help us - Help us understand why you’re doing these horrible things?” Teddy adjusted her stance, wanting to come off as non-threatening as possible. In a split-second, she decided to undo her bulletproof vest and drop it behind her.

“I’m not a threat to you anymore, Bennett, just let Kathy go. Don’t worry about everyone else, they just want to get Kathy out of here safely,” she continued to bargain and stall, hoping that her new level of exposure minimised her as any credible threat.

“They’re not gonna get me, I won’t go without a fight -”

“Bennett, let’s talk about this like adults. I know you feel like the system failed you - we know, all about the abuse, the ER trips and foster homes. No one should ever have to go through that. But there are people out there that are willing to help you get through it -”

“You don’t know me! You don’t know shit!”

“So tell me! Let Kathy go and we can talk about it.” Teddy took another step closer and Derek’s voice in her ear reminded her that they were watching this exchange. **  
**

_“Wilson, stand down. We have a sniper in the treeline with a clear shot, just come back to us.”_ It was stupid and reckless, but she pulled the earpiece out and set it down next to her vest. There was no going back. If she made it out of this in one piece, Teddy was well aware that there was a lengthy lecture awaiting her on the other side. That didn’t stop her from shuffling closer.

“Remove your weapon,” Bennett demanded, gesturing with his gun to Teddy’s own holstered weapon on her hip.

“Why? You already have control over this situation, Bennett I’m in no position to try and shoot you when you’re already pointing your gun at me,” she stated with a simple shrug, keeping her hands up and palms facing Bennett.

“Just take it off, bitch!”

“Alright, alright.” She complied and removed her holster, setting that down next to her earpiece and vest.

What unravelled next happened in the blink of an eye. Bennett put his weapon back against Kathy’s temple, with intent to pull the trigger. Before Teddy could try and deescalate the situation, Bennett was dealt a single shot to the head. Under the weight of his body, Kathy fell into the water, unable to fight back.

“Wilson!” Hotch and Rossi’s simultaneous shouts echoed in her ears as she ran to the end of the jetty and jumped in after them.

The bite of the water was a shock to Teddy’s senses. Thankfully, even though the water was nothing more than a black abyss with little more than three foot of visibility below the surface, teddy could see Kathy. With all the strength she could muster, Teddy swam down to reach for the now unconscious woman. **  
**

Teddy’s lungs began to burn as she hooked her arms under Kathy’s and began kicking to the surface. She was still cold and her fingers ached slightly from the extreme temperature change. Finally, she broke the surface and took in a lungful of the crisp November air before kicking her way over to the jetty and handing Kathy over to Rossi and Hotch. The older men hauled her out of the water and began CPR whilst Derek and Spencer helped Teddy out of the freezing water.

“I’m not going to tell you that was beyond stupid, because I think you know, but what the Hell, Teddy?!” Derek snapped as they rushed her back to the line of police cruisers and black SUVs, demanding that someone find her a blanket or a towel.

“I d-did what I ha-had to, M-Morgan,” she defended weakly as her teeth chattered loudly, leaving her speech stunted and blunt. When the ambulance and paramedics arrived, Kathy was in safe hands and looked to be in with a strong chance of surviving. In Teddy’s eyes, that had made the risk worth it. Once Kathy was safely loaded into the ambulance and being monitored by a paramedic, the attention turned to Teddy.

“Teddy your lips are purple,” Spencer observed with a concerned crease in his brow as she was plied with another blanket. It had been all of five minutes since she’d come out of the water but Teddy could feel the water in her hair threatening to freeze in the cold night air. Her teeth still chattered, though she kept her mouth shut to minimise the noise.

“Alright, Prentiss, Reid, take Wilson back to the hotel. Get her warm and dry, try to keep her that way until she regains some colour,” Hotch instructed when he reached the group. There was a disappointed look in his eyes that Teddy knew would haunt her for the foreseeable future.

Wrapped in two fleece and one foil blanket, Emily steered Teddy by the shoulders to the nearest SUV. Teddy slid into the backseat and Emily volunteered to drive. Teddy was surprised when Spencer joined her in the backseat instead of taking shotgun next to Emily. In her three-layer blanket burrito, Teddy was still soaked to the bone and cold. Even when Emily put the heating on full, probably in hopes that it would help some, it did nothing but add to the shivers that danced across her skin.

“I know that hearing it isn’t going to help, but you really shouldn’t have done that, Teddy. You could’ve made things worse or gotten yourself killed,” Spencer stated quietly as the woods flashed by outside. Teddy’s gaze was fixed on the inky-black treeline, she tried to think about anything other than the numbing iciness that seeped into her bones.

“I wasn’t thinking about myself. I didn’t want Kathy to get hurt. Hotch is probably going to tear my head off when he gets the chance,” she replied, just as quietly. The effort required to speak any louder simply didn’t exist in Teddy anymore. The frigid waters and physical exertion made sure of that.

“At least you know what to expect,” Emily piped up from the driver’s seat and Teddy made a noise of agreement.

“How far away from the hotel are we?” Teddy fought to keep her eyes open as she spoke, wanting nothing more than to sleep.

“About twenty-five minutes.”

“Hmm… Y’ know, my water pressure isn’t great in the hotel room, could I borrow one of your showers?” Teddy questioned as she tried to fight the impending exhaustion.

“I was using JJ’s bathroom for the same reason. Reid?” Emily glanced at the younger Doctor in the rearview mirror and he cleared his throat.

“Uh, of course. Sure.” The rest of the car ride was silent, save for the music playing quietly on the regular radio station. Teddy drifted in and out of sleep, feeling discomfort no matter how she tried to sit. Her clothes were still disgustingly wet by the time they rolled to a stop outside the hotel. **  
**

Emily and Spencer helped her out of the car and walked either side of her to her room. They waited by the door for her to collect her toiletries and towels, as well as her pyjamas before moving down the hall to Reid’s room.

“Do you need a hand with anything?” Emily asked gently as Teddy reached for the bathroom door handle. Embarrassed enough that she’d needed assistance walking to her room and getting out of a damn car, Teddy shook her head.

“No, thank you though, Emily. I promise not t use all the hot water, Spencer,” she assured her teammates as she pushed the door open and shuffled inside. Teddy recalled what she could about hypothermia and cold-water exposure from her time taking first aid classes in college. She knew she had to be sensible with the water temperature or risk going into shock. Which wasn’t preferable given that she’d be indecently exposed and in a colleague’s hotel shower.

After just about surviving the shower and getting changed into her dry pyjamas, she gathered her things and exited the bathroom, surprised to see Emily and Spencer sat waiting for her.

“You didn’t have to wait for me, guys. I’m fine,” she half-heartedly assured them. It felt weird to Teddy, being stood in front of her teammates - the people that only know her in a professional capacity - in her navy blue flannel bottoms and an XL New England Patriots sweatshirt she’d bought when she’d started college.

“Thanks, again, for letting me use your shower, Spencer.” Teddy offered an awkward smile as she headed to the door, ready to crash into the deepest level of sleep possible.

“Oh - sure! Don’t worry about it. Get some sleep, Teddy.” Her overly concerned teammates followed her to the door. Spencer stopped at the jamb whilst Emily walked Teddy back to her room.

“If you need anything - anything at all - shoot me a message or come knock on my door,” the raven-haired agent offered with a comforting smile.

“Thank you, Emily. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Teddy.” With that, the older woman turned on her heel and disappeared back down the corridor to her room. Leaving Teddy to get some semblance of rest.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: mild language, canon-typical violence, concussion, stab wounds, blood loss, probably some medical inaccuracies (sorry in advance).
> 
> [A/N: this is going to be a little bit more relationship-orientated, with focus on Teddy’s relationships with Emily, Derek and Spencer specifically. As the story progresses, there will be more chapters like this that are less action-based and more relationship/out of work based]

**_Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real - Cormac McCarthy_ **

Following the incident at Lake Michigan, Hotch had taken Teddy aside and given her a firm talking to, though he ended their conversation with the assurance that she did what any of them would’ve done. He’d also requested she took two days paid leave to get herself in the right headspace again. Teddy was happy with those terms and spent the two days she had off looking after herself and keeping in touch with the team. In her forty-eight-hour cooling-off period, she also burned through most of her paperwork, which she was quite proud of. **  
**

That had been almost a whole week ago. Currently, they were in Portland trying to catch the most recent Unsub. They’d been in town all of four days with little to no progress on finding and catching the Unsub. To boost morale, Teddy volunteered to go on another coffee run and made a list of everyone’s orders so she didn’t miss anything.

“Alright, so what have we got so far?” Teddy questioned as she took her seat at the table. The surface of which, was completely covered in photographs, paper trails and personal records. The two trays full of coffees were shared around and accepted with gratitude.

“Our primary suspect as of this moment is Owen Ashford. Ashford works at a local nightclub as a bartender, with a habit of taking girls home from work with him,” Derek began filling her in, whilst taking tentative sips of his latte.

“This is likely how he lures his victims in and explains how he managed to stay off our radar earlier. Ashford is a textbook narcissist who takes pride in his appearance and his prowess. The ME confirmed that just hours before their deaths, all the victims had sex,” Hotch continued before he blew the steam away from the top of his cup.

“Given the personal methods of killing his victims, it’s safe to assume that he cares just as much about the kill as the sex and his self-image.” Teddy nodded in acknowledgement of Emily’s point as she sipped her hot chocolate. The coffee shop she’d found didn’t sell tea so she’d had to make do.

“So if we’re going to catch this guy red-handed, what’s the play?” the brunette Doctor quizzed her teammates. For the first time that day though, it became apparent that Spencer had scarcely said anything. She would’ve found it unusual if she didn’t already know that he was a font of knowledge and prone to spontaneous fact-dropping and entertaining tangents.

“We need someone to go into the nightclub as a patron and convince him to leave with them at the end of his shift. Someone get Garcia on getting ahold of Ashford’s schedule, home address and any other details we may need to track his movements.” Teddy beat Derek to it, she speed-dialled Garcia’s number and was pleasantly greeted.

_“Garcia the Wise, how may I be of service?”_

“Hey, Garcia we need you to gather what you can on Owen Ashford.”

_“Anything for you, Sugar Bear. What am I looking for specifically?”_

“Well, preferably whatever you can sink your sparkly purple nails into. We need his home address, phone number, bank statements and his work schedule, specifically.”

 _“I’ll bounce back when I get a hit,”_ the blonde analyst assured her before signing off and hanging up. The discussion had continued whilst Teddy was on the phone but she seemed to rejoin at a pretty important point.

“- Wilson can get to Ashford-”

“Sorry, what?” All eyes turned to Teddy, who was sure she resembled a deer in headlights.

“Teddy, you’re the youngest, you’re closest to the Unsub’s type -”

“No way!”

“Prentiss, Morgan and a handful of plain-clothed officers will be inside keeping an eye on you to make sure nothing happens,” Hotch tried assuring her but she shook her head and stood up.

“Not that I don’t trust any of them - because I have _profound_ respect for everybody on this team - but what happens when he tries to get me to leave at the end of the night?”

“Morgan can follow at a distance and trail you back to his apartment, we’ll all be on standby. Teddy, nothing will happen to you.” It didn’t feel right to Teddy, to be put in such a ridiculous position. But, upon reflection, she realised she owed Hotch, for not saying anything about Boston or Michigan to anyone else and letting her off as lightly as he did.

“I didn’t bring any nightclub-worthy clothes,” she finally conceded and Teddy could tell that Hotch was relieved she’d agreed.

“I can help you pick something? Or you could borrow something of mine?” Emily offered and Teddy was comforted by the notion.

“Alright, that’s a good starting point. Let’s regroup with the Chief and set up a plan of action and get everything in place. Wilson?” Teddy’s attention was snagged as everyone else began to gather their things and get themselves ready.

“Yes sir?”

“It’s time to go dress shopping.”

“Wonderful,” she mused as Emily followed her out of the boardroom. On their way towards the main doors of the police station, Spencer caught her by the elbow.

“Spencer?”

“Everything’s going to work out. You just have to trust Hotch,” he stated with a small smile of reassurance.

“Hotch, I trust. The Unsub, I do not. Catch you later, Boy Genius.” With a smile of her own, she turned back and headed out the building, taking larger strides to catch up with Emily.

**-/-/-/-**

The sun was already setting when Teddy and Emily finally spotted a decent looking boutique. Teddy hated the idea entirely and just wanted it all to be over with already. Nightclubs were one thing, but wearing a dress in late November was the tip of the iceberg.

“C’mon, Cinderella, let’s get you a dress,” Emily teased as they climbed out of the SUV and headed towards the floral storefront.

Inside was a kaleidoscope of colours, textures and patterns. It was enough to give Teddy a headache. The store didn’t solely trade in dresses and shoes, as Teddy spotted several racks full of regular clothes; t-shorts, jackets, jeans. All the things she’d be far more comfortable in. They wandered around for a few minutes, observing and analysing everything they passed.

“Hey,” Emily caught her attention, “What about this?” The dress in question was, quite frankly, hideous. Neon orange with an abomination of leopard prints and tiger stripes clashing across the material. Then she turned it around and Teddy’s eyes nearly dropped out of her sockets when she saw that the back of the dress was non-existent.

“Yeah, that should do it,” the younger woman scathed with a sarcastic nod of her head. Emily laughed it off and ducked between the rails again.

There were a couple of semi-decent dresses Teddy thought might look nice so she hung them over her arm. Meanwhile, she’d lost sight of Emily and that troubled her just a little, though she ignored the fear in favour of looking for another dress. When she was done picking up dresses she headed to the dressing room at the back of the boutique. Teddy was under the impression that Emily would just appear when she was ready.

The first one Teddy tried was skin-tight and sleeveless. The hemline left little to be desired and she didn’t think it was the best move to make, given the circumstances she’d be in.

“Come out and show me!” Teddy could hear the smile in Emily’s voice and rolled her eyes. With a huff of annoyance at the hemline that shrunk every time she moved, she opened the door, tugging at the material profusely.

“Ooh, that’s a bit racy, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, well,” Teddy began as she held the hemline in place, “It’s not like it said _Las Vegas Hooker_ on the coathanger.” At the very least, it made Emily smile.

The second dress was soft champagne-coloured silk that pooled at the cleavage and clung to her hips. It was considerably more modest than the first, but still not modest enough for her taste. Teddy opened the door and Emily raised an eyebrow.

“That’s pretty, is it the one?” The longer Teddy stood there in the new dress, the more she realised how uncomfortable the snug-fitted silk was. She couldn’t breathe out properly and she couldn’t turn to fast in fear of popping a seam.

“I can barely move. As pretty as it is, it’s still not practical,” she admitted with a shrug before disappearing to try on dress number three. Before she could though, Emily passed another dress over the top. Teddy didn’t pay much attention to it, promising to try that one on last.

Dress number three was shoulder-less and a deep blue. The crushed velvet felt lovely under Teddy’s fingers but the disappointing flaw became apparent when she put it on. She opened the door and Emily had to hold in a fit of giggles. All the sides were missing. It was two pieces of fabric laced together at the sides.

“If I can’t wear underwear under a dress, I’m not going to be able to hide anything under the dress.” Embarrassed, she turned away, only for Emily to understand what she meant. That only encouraged the giggles from the older woman.

“Stop enjoying this so much, Prentiss,” Teddy half-heartedly demanded from behind the door. A hearty laugh followed.

“It’s like playing dress-up with the sister I never had,” Emily remarked and that did put a smile on Teddy’s face at the very least.

The last dress teddy had picked out for herself was a light, cornflower blue chiffon. It was wrapped and ruffled in a way that appealed to her, though when she put it on, she didn’t like how it looked against her skin and figure. With a disheartened frown, she opened the door and turned around for Emily to see.

“That looks nice on you, Teddy, what’s the matter with it?”

“I feel like a dumpy thirteen-year-old looking for a prom dress. I hate it. Why did I have to agree to be bait? Why do I have to wear a stupid dress?” Teddy suddenly burst and took Emily by surprise.

“Hey,” the older agent stepped closer and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “Hotch trusts you enough to do this right. He knows you want to do a good job and that trust is an honour. Why don’t you take a look at the last dress?”

“Em -”

“Pease? For me?” Teddy couldn’t argue with her, so she nodded and for the final time returned to the dressing room.

Teddy refused to look at herself in the mirror that was mounted on the opposite wall of the dressing room until she was in the dress and happy with how it sat on her skin. When she turned around, she almost didn’t recognise her reflection.

The dress was a deep, rich purple with a slightly red tint. The material was comfortable and stretched to fit her measurements. It emphasised features she didn’t even realise she had. The hemline was modest, but fun and the single spaghetti strap on each shoulder was comfortable. There was a playful slit up the right side of her dress, revealing a tasteful slice of her thigh.

“Teddy? Are you alright in there?”

“Yeah - yeah, sorry.” teddy snapped herself out of her internal ramblings and opened the door. A teasing whistle rang from Emily’s lips and Teddy blushed slightly.

“ _That_ is the dress.”

“Yes, it is,” Teddy agreed with a bright smile, suddenly feeling a lot happier now that she’d found a dress she liked. Once out of the dress and in her normals clothes, she bought the dress and the two of them headed back to the SUV. With a dress bag over her arm, Teddy was stopped by her phone ringing.

“Go for Wilson,” she stated in her customary fashion, balancing the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she climbed into the passenger seat.

_“Doctor Wilson, this is Erin Strauss.”_

“Oh, Agent Strauss, what can I do for you?” Emily looked at Teddy with a frown and Teddy shrugged in reply.

 _“How are things? Are you fitting in with the team alright?”_ Teddy could sense there was something more behind her question but played along.

“Yeah, absolutely, the team has been so amazing and they’ve been super accommodating.”

 _“Good, I’m glad to hear that.”_ A momentary pause followed and Teddy decided to ask the next question.

“Ma’am, with all due respect we could be having this conversation when we’re back in Quantico. I’m currently with the rest of the team in Portland and we’re on the verge of finishing this case and catching the Unsub. Is there any particular reason you’re calling right now?”

 _“I thought you’d like to know I have your transfer papers in front of me,”_ the older woman stated and Teddy started to understand where the conversation was headed.

“Ma’am?”

 _“You don’t have to decide right now, but your time on the team officially comes to a close at the end of this month. Whether you stay and become a fully integrated member of the team, or, leave and resume your position in DC is entirely up to you.”_ The end of the month was barely a week away.

“When do you want my final answer?” This also sparked a look of interest from Emily, though Teddy tried to ignore it until the call was over.

 _“At your earliest convenience.”_ Teddy’s heart sank.

“Oh.”

_“Unless, of course, you’ve already made up your mind?”_

“No - Ma’am. Thank you for letting me know.” When she hung up, Teddy could tell Emily desperately wanted to ask about the call.

“I’ll put you out of your misery; Strauss wants to know if I’m staying or leaving.”

“As in, staying _here_ , on the team?” Emily cast several worried glances at her whilst trying to maintain her concentration on the road.

“Yeah. Officially my consultation period with you guys finishes at the end of the month. Strauss wants an answer as soon as possible,” the brunette broke the news and Emily stayed silent for a minute. And another minute. So many minutes later, that it took Teddy by surprise when she opened her mouth again.

“What are you going to say?” They finally rolled to a stop outside the police station and Emily cut the engine. It dawned on Teddy then, that she had no idea what she’d say.

“Well, I - It’s… I don’t know.”

“Do you like it? Working with us, I mean?” The two women turned to face each other and Teddy sensed that things were going to get deep and philosophical between them.

“Yeah. But I’m not used to working on a team like this. You guys are… You’re so close-knit and _familial_. I feel like I’m just intruding and getting in between you all,” she confessed with a palatable sense of anxiety.

“Teddy, can I be brutally honest, for a minute?”

“Of course.” Emily cleared her throat and took a moment to gather her thoughts.

“You’re young, no one on this team dislikes you. You’re in your little niche area of expertise but you helped play a big part in some of the cases we’ve handled so far. The people in this unit - this _family_ \- are all extraordinary in their unique ways. I think you’re right alongside them. Now, I can’t tell you what to say to Strauss, but I can tell you that we’ve all accepted you into this family and we’ll support you in whatever decision you make.” The sincerity in Emily’s voice almost brought Teddy to tears.

“Wow, well, when you put it like that,” she joked in an attempt to stop herself from making an overly emotional scene.

“Let’s get through this case, catch Ashford. Then you can give Strauss your final answer. How does that sound?” **  
**

“Like a pretty good plan,” Teddy admitted with a smile as they gathered their things and climbed out.

**-/-/-/-**

Several hours later and the plan was almost completely airtight. As Teddy got changed into her dress and heels in the precinct bathrooms, a stomach-twisting conundrum made itself known. She hurried to finish getting ready, sure that Emily and JJ would help her with reapplying her makeup and making her look ‘club-worthy’.

Teddy had never felt so many eyes on her as she re-entered the boardroom, dress on and hair down in wily curls and waves. Thankfully, she’d brought an old denim jacket in her go-bag, which she planned on wearing over the top whilst she was outside. No one said anything for a long beat and Teddy assumed something was wrong.

“What is it? Is the dress too short? Does it look bad?”

“No!” they almost all exclaimed at the same time, which took her by surprise but she tried to play it off.

“Okay, well, I do have a problem with it that I didn’t consider earlier; I can’t wear an earpiece and radio. It’s too short and revealing it’d be too obvious.” The group began throwing around ideas as to how she could communicate with them, though there was a pitfall for every suggestion made. Unintentionally, Teddy had been tapping against her thigh, fingers rhythmically drumming against the material of the dress. Spencer snapped his fingers and all attention turned to him.

“Teddy, do you know Morse Code?”

“My Pa and I used to talk in Morse Code. It was our thing,” the nervous Doctor confirmed and Spencer seemed relieved. **  
**

“That solves the problem then,” he stated like it was the simplest thing in the world, but even Teddy wasn’t entirely caught up.

“What do you mean, Reid?” Hotch interjected and teddy was grateful he asked before she could.

“Well, the club has several cameras focused on the bar, if Teddy sits in front of one of these cameras, she can communicate with all of us. Derek, Emily. JJ and I will be at the security cameras watching the live feed, we can see it too.” It comforted Teddy a little to know that Spencer had given it thought.

“Teddy are you okay with that?”

“Perfectly, sir.”

“Alright, we’ll head out now and get everything in place. I’ll go and let the Chief know we’re ready.” Hotch left and the rest of the team got ready to leave too. Teddy bundled her clothes together into her satchel as best as she could before awkwardly stepping over to Spencer, who was organising his belongings. **  
**

“Can I ask a favour?”

“Sure,” he straightened up and turned to face her fully. Teddy became aware of the fact that even in heels, Spencer was still at least two inches taller than her.

“Can you keep a hold of this, please? I don’t want to be in this dress any longer than I have to be,” she explained with a nervous laugh. Spencer’s lips curled into a grin and he nodded.

“Of course. Look, I know you feel like you didn’t have much of a say in this sting, but we really appreciate what you’re risking by doing this.”

“Don’t thank me just yet, I’ve still actually got to convince him I’m helpless and unable to defend myself,” Teddy mused and Spencer chuckled, his eyes creased at the corners and it made her smile even wider.

“If it’s any comfort, it’s highly likely he won’t even question it. Unfortunately for you, this kind of Unsub is marginally sexist. He won’t even suspect you’re anything but a young woman on a night out.”

“Oh really?”

“Of course. Not speaking personally, you’re general appearance and demeanour is already convincing enough that you’re harmless. He should fall for it without question.”

“So you think I’m harmless?” The playful tug on her voice should’ve been clue enough that she was pulling his leg, but he didn’t seem to quite catch on.

“No - not at all, I saw you break Gary Howard’s wrist, you stalled a killer before jumping into a freezing lake to rescue a woman - you’re anything but harmless. I believe you’d be capable of immeasurable damage if you weren’t working for law enforcement.” Teddy was impressed by his honesty and took that as a sign.

“Thanks. Now let’s go get this murdering son of a bitch.”

**-/-/-/-**

The nightclub was horrifically loud and overcrowded. Teddy had been sat down for all of ten minutes and she hated it already. Emily and Derek were in position, seated at either end of the bar, able to see Teddy and each other. Teddy also clocked three additional plain-clothed officers mingling with patrons on the dancefloor, nothing but water in their cups.

Teddy was examining the state of her nails when she was approached by a barman. Owen Ashford. She plastered on her sweetest smile and straightened her posture to draw as much attention to her chest as possible.

“What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”

How disgustingly cliche.

“I’m in town visiting a college friend,” she bluffed over the music. Ashford smiled and nodded as he wiped down the countertop.

“Visiting from where?”

“Boston.” That seemed to be the right answer. It had become apparent to them that he’d taken an interest in killing women that weren’t local. Teddy curled a strand of hair around her index finger and piled on the faux innocence. **  
**

“Oh, Boston. You got a name, sweetheart?”

“Elizabeth - my friends call me Lizzie,” she bluffed and smiled at him sweetly.

“That’s a pretty name. Listen, _Lizzie_ , you seem like a nice girl. My shift ends at eleven.”

“It does?”

“Yeah, how about you and I get out of here after that. I can fix a mean cup of coffee.”

“Wow, you move fast. Coffee sounds great -”

“Owen,” he filled in his name for her and Teddy bit back a smirk. He’d bought it.

“Alright Owen, coffee it is.” The conversation was cut short when he got called away to the other side of the bar. The song changed and Teddy took the opportunity to take a drink from the lemonade she’d ordered. Whilst sipping on the sweet beverage, she drummed out her message to Derek, Emily and Spencer.

Tap-tap-tap / tap / tap.

SET.

Teddy finished her drink and set the glass back down on the coaster. She stood up and moved to the middle of the dance floor, into the thick of the crowd. Nightclubs were the furthest thing from Teddy’s comfort zone, but she had to act like there was nowhere else she’d rather be. As she anticipated, Derek was the one that left the bar to join her, sliding up behind her and dancing loosely to the bass-fused music

“Everything alright, Teddy?” She turned around to face her teammate and draped her arms over his shoulders, her fakest smile on display for him.

“Fine. Ashford bought the bait.”

“That easy, huh?”

“Oh yeah, he didn’t waste any time in asking me back to his place,” Teddy informed him as she swayed and bounced to the beat. It wasn’t an entirely unpleasant song and she almost found herself having fun.

“Just be smart, alright? You don’t have any weapons or lines of communication with us once he gets you inside his apartment.” Teddy couldn’t express how appreciative of his concern for her wellbeing she was. Instead, she settled for stretching up and kissing him on the cheek.

“What was that for?” Were it not for the flashing lights and shared body heat of everyone else on the dancefloor, Teddy would’ve been able to see the surprised blushing glow that covered Derek’s cheeks.

“For being worried about me. It makes a nice change to be worried about and not the one worrying,” she confessed with a smile. Derek smiled back and there seemed to be a mutual understanding between them that didn’t require any more of an explanation.

“You’re a breed of your own, y’ know that, Teddy?” **  
**

“I do now. By the way, I just want you to hear it from me before anyone else brings it up,” she began, leaning in a little to avoid shouting too loud, “Strauss wants me to decide if I’m staying with you guys or not.”

“Really?” He seemed a little confused but didn’t say anything more than that.

“Yeah, my consultation period ends this month.”

“What’s your decision?”

“I don’t know yet. I’m gonna let her know after we wrap this case up, so we should make it a good one, right?” His charming smile returned at her poor attempt at bringing some levity to the situation.

“Damn right we should. I’ll let Prentiss and the others know you’ve got Ashford secured. Good luck, Teddy Bear.”

“Thanks, Dreamboat,” she teased in reply. They parted with goofy smiles and a lightness in their body language. After dancing with a few sweaty strangers, she slipped off to the bathrooms. As she anticipated, the floor was sticky and the air smelt like stale urine and cigarette smoke. She hated public bathrooms. Teddy stood at one of the sink basins and ran her hands under the cold tap, hoping to calm herself down enough to stay focused on the task at hand.

“Derek and Emily have your back. You trust them. Spencer is keeping an eye on you with JJ. EVerything’s going to be fine,” she stated like some kind of discounted mantra. As Teddy went to leave, a rabble of four inebriated girls burst into the bathrooms and went about their business, still singing along to the music playing outside.

Back at the bar, Teddy ordered another lemonade and continued to flirt with Owen whenever the opportunity presented itself. She counted down the minutes until he finished his shift and they were due to leave. When the hour of eleven finally arrived, he gave Teddy one last wink before temporarily disappearing to collect his belongings. Teddy took the opportunity to signal to her teammates that she was about to be leaving.

“Alright, you ready to go?” Owen questioned as he reappeared. Teddy slid down off the barstool and readjusted her dress. She slung her jacket over her shoulders and followed him out.

“My place is like two blocks from here, you don’t mind walking, right?”

“Not at all,” she played along as they broke out into the crisp night air. Goosebumps ran rampant on her exposed skin and Teddy tried her hardest to stop her teeth from chattering as they walked.

Ashford’s apartment wasn’t anything special and Teddy was pleased to see all the markers that pointed towards him being the Unsub. Reassured by the absolute certainty that he was the one they’d been looking for, she slid her jacket off and draped it over the back of the sofa. Owen Ashford was perhaps the most conceited and self-absorbed man she’d ever met and was glad that this wasn’t an actual hook-up. **  
**

“You’re a very pretty girl, Lizzie,” Ashford commented as he disappeared into the small kitchenette to make the promised coffee.

“Thank you. You’re the first guy to ever tell me that,” she called back as she looked around the apartment space. On a whim, she stood up and poked her head into the kitchenette.

“Hey, is it alright if I use your bathroom?”

“Sure, first door on the right,” he instructed and Teddy offered a tight-lipped smile in reply as she ducked back out and “went looking” for the bathroom. In reality, she deviated from the main hallway and found his bedroom. As quietly as she could, Teddy looked around and began snooping, looking for physical or forensic evidence that he was responsible. That wasn’t part of the plan because the Crime Scene Techs would come in after the arrest and look for her.

She found porn stashed beneath the mattress and rolled her eyes. Gross. Typical items inside the nightstand and nothing unusual on the vanity dresser. Teddy glanced in the mirror as she gently sifted through the contents of the vanity’s top drawer. In the reflection, she spotted something on the headboard of the bed. For sake of ease, Teddy stepped out of the heels she’d borrowed from Emily and padded across the thick carpet for a closer look.

In abject horror, she realised that what she’d seen were a dozen necklaces secured around one of the horizontal slats of the headboard. One from every victim. Feeling less optimistic about her chances, she turned to leave, only to be met with Owen in the doorway.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” he stated, voice a threatening timbre and posture screaming hostile.

“I’m sorry -”

“Why is it always the pretty ones that go looking where they’re not needed?” he questioned rhetorically before stepping further inside the room. It became apparent to Teddy that he was holding a knife. She was completely unarmed.

“Owen, I promise -

“What? That it’s not what it looks like? It’s all a misunderstanding? You stuck your nose where it doesn’t belong and now you’re gonna have to pay for your actions.”

It became a deadly game of cat and mouse. Neither one of them moving without the other doing so first. Teddy yelped when he lunged at her, instinctively throwing her shoes at him. One of them hit him square in the forehead, the other bounced off his shoulder. Panicked, Teddy jumped and ran across the mattress before sprinting to the door. Unfortunately, he was faster and considerably stronger than her.

“Snot-nosed bitch,” he growled as he grabbed a fistful of her hair before throwing her against the nearest wall. Her head ricocheted and an almost blinding pain sparked across her skull.

“You’re not the first man to call me that, y’ know,” she groaned as she crumpled to the floor. **  
**

“But I will be the last, I can promise you that much.” Teddy tried her hardest to shake the white spots that danced across her vision but they refused to leave. Before she could make another witty remark, he hauled her to her feet, his hand around her throat, pinning her in place.

“Did you do this to all the girls? Or am I getting the special treatment?” Owen didn’t reply, only squeezed tighter and pressed the tip of the knife to the soft flesh of her side. By Teddy’s guess, if he stabbed her there, she’d be fine, no vital organs would be at risk. It wouldn’t be pleasant, but it was a whole lot more comforting than the thought of bleeding out internally.

”Shut the fuck up, or I’ll slash you up so badly that you won’t be identifiable.” Teddy listened for lack of a better option. Derek and Emily should be here by now. Where were they?

_Shit. Maybe this **is** how I die…_

“I know you get off on the fear. It feeds your ego and makes you feel better about yourself. All the other girls you butchered, did they cry? Beg and plead for you to do anything but kill them?”

“You bet they did. No sweeter sound.”

“Well, I’m sorry.”

“The hell are you sorry for?!”

“For not being afraid of you. You’re not gonna make me cry, Owen. I’ve seen and heard plenty of stories about monsters that do things against other people - good people. Now, they’re scary. I hate to break it to you, but you’re not one of them.” He pushed the knife harder and Teddy drew in an instinctive breath. The pinch was uncomfortable but not enough to break her. She cast a glance to the door and saw shadows moving on the other side. She couldn’t get her hopes up, but Teddy was certain that Derek, Emily and the rest of the team were lying in wait behind that door.

“You’re talking an awful lot for someone that’s about to die -”

“And you’re talking a lot for someone that’s about to be arrested for murder,” she hissed through gritted teeth as his grip on her neck tightened.

“We’ll see about that - “ The door burst open and the team revealed themselves, guns pointed at Ashford. Caught off-guard, he jolted and the knife was fully embedded in Teddy’s side before he pulled it out in a panic.

As Rossi and Hotch dealt with Ashford, it dawned on Teddy that she’d been stabbed. Things seemed to become syrupy slow as she sunk to the floor, hands wandering to her abdomen where the gash in her dress revealed pools of crimson.

“Huh,” she sighed when Derek knelt in front of her, “This isn’t at all what I imagined getting stabbed would feel like.” Teddy figured if he wasn’t so concerned, Derek might’ve laughed.

“Medics are on their way up, alright, Teddy? Just keep the pressure right there,” he instructed, placing both her hands on top of the profusely bleeding wound. Whilst Teddy tried her hardest to concentrate on applying pressure, Derek called for Spencer. The other Doctor joined them on the floor and took Derek’s place.

“Do what you do best, Pretty Boy. Talk.”

“Hey, hey, Teddy what’s your favourite animal?”

“Hmm… I like otters,” she replied hazily, wincing at the pressure being forced upon her abdomen.

“Oh, cool, did you know that otters wrap themselves in seaweed whilst they sleep to avoid drifting apart? And that they eat up to twenty-five per cent of their body weight in seafood?” he began talking softly with a shine in his eyes that Teddy wasn’t sure if she was imagining or not.

“No, I didn’t. It’s cool how you know these things, Spencer. You’re Wicked Smart,” she informed him as she straightened up against the wall slightly. It became apparent that her accent was really broad now that she lacked the strength to curve it.

“Thanks. Otter pups also have the densest fur, so the mothers will often leave them floating whilst they dive for food. An average adult otter can hold its breath for five minutes and river otters have been recorded to hold their breaths for eight minutes,” he continued to ramble and Teddy smiled. She wasn’t sure if she was smiling at the facts he was spewing or the fact that he was just rattling these facts off as if they were common knowledge, but it was comforting nonetheless.

“Tell me more,” she pleaded quietly as the medics arrived and began working their magic. Spencer accompanied her down to the ambulance. Thankfully, it had only grazed her internal organs, but she still lost a lot of blood.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Thanks for reading this far! Consider dropping a kudos or comment (or both?) if you enjoyed it! :)


End file.
